The Perfume Files
by TheAlteredDestiniesFan
Summary: Nabiki 1/2 - Side Stories. Two lives that run separate-yet-parallel, destined to one day cross, and with them so much else that forms the basis of the Nabiki 1/2 universe...
1. Chapter 1

Nabiki 1/2

The Perfume Files

By

Jim Robert Bader

(Rumiko Takahashi may have inspired this,

but if she read my version she's probably sue me)

"Dad...it's me again, your Ucchan..."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone and then the voice of Akira

Kuonji asking softly, "Ucchan...what is it? Is there something wrong? You

sound so tense..."

"Ah...not wrong, Dad," Ukyo replied nervously, "At least not the way you

mean...more like something completely unexpected has happened, and for me that

just tops the list of weird occurrences that I've been going through lately."

"Oh?" her father said on the other end of the phone, "Well...perhaps you should

take it from the beginning then. Does this concern Ranma Saotome?"

"Um...not directly, no," Ukyo replied, pausing as she felt a hand steady her

shoulder and she favored the woman at her side with a grateful look for the

support before continuing, "But I guess in a way it is kind of about him and

our...continuing engagement. Yeah, that's still on, no problems there...I

think. It's...the other matter I've got to tell you about, and as for where to

begin...I hardly know where exactly it got started."

She turned to see Perfume smiling at her, and Ukyo felt her heart skip a beat as

she found that smile more dazzling than a ray of sunshine on a cloudy morning.

The matter was indeed a complicated one, but the point where it all began? Ukyo

cast her mind back and wondered at exactly what point her fate was decided and

the course of her life began in its curious and strangely wonderful direction...

"Well, Daddy?" a six-year-old Ukyo asked her father anxiously, "How is it?"

"Not too bad," Kuonji Akira replied after sampling a bite full of his daughter's

latest attempt at okonomiyaki, "You're getting there, Ukyo. Just keep

practicing and you'll make it perfect like your old man."

"You bet," Ukyo replied with childish determination, rolling up her sleeve, "I

won't quit until I get it just right, Daddy. You wait and see, I'll make the

best okonomiyaki in Japan, maybe even the world!"

"Sure, sure," the elder Kuonji said gruffly, not knowing what else to say to

encourage his little girl, who was trying so hard to master the family business.

At times he really did not feel cut out for this father business, and little

Ucchan was such a handful at times, too damned much like her late mother. It

was getting harder to look into her brown eyes without choking up over their

loss, but he had to remain strong for her sake.

If only he could have had a son, he thought to himself grimly. Boys were so

much easier to raise, you just told them what you wanted to do and did not take

any back talk. But Ukyo was so cute sometimes, almost pretty at her tender age,

that she could leave him at a loss over what to do or say to curb her childish

impulses. She was mastering the family's fighting style with surprising

adeptness, and very soon she might even go beyond his skill level, at which

point he would have to find instructors to teach her more advanced methods.

Already her Shotokan technique was exceptional for her age, and while she was

still relatively small she was fast and light and could punch like a kid twice

her tender years. Akira was very proud of his daughter...he just wished she

were a son sometimes so that he could really feel proud and not so awkward about

it...

Ukyo sighed as she saw her father turn away from her latest work. He said it

was good, at least that was something. She was improving as a chef and had

almost gotten his approval this time with her latest attempt at duplicating his

recipe. It was just a matter of using the right ingredients in the proportions

and balance outlined in the family's secret cooking scrolls. Maybe someday soon

he might even offer her praise at how hard she was working to become just like

him. She would show him how good she could be, she would make the best

okonomiyaki in the world as she had boasted she would, and then her father would

have to acknowledge that his daughter was as good as any son he ever wanted.

Ukyo felt a little sad sometimes when she thought about the last two years

living on the road since the death of her mother. It was so much easier to make

her father smile when mother was around. The way her father looked at her

sometimes...it had to mean that he was disappointed in her over something. If

only he would come right out and tell her what she was doing wrong...but now, he

had to go into that surly act of his and get all muttery. Her father smiled

less often these days and always looked so unhappy...

She sighed, missing her mother very much. Maybe life would have been different

if she had a baby brother to play around with, the son her father obviously

wanted more than her. No, maybe that wouldn't be such a good thing. A boy

might just distract him...but another girl? Perhaps that was what she needed, a

sister...or a friend, maybe somebody close to her own age to talk to...but where

was she ever going to meet one?

Unbeknownst to her the answer lay only a short distance away as they pushed

their family Yatai along through the park section of Furinkan. Not very far

away a girl close to her own age was conferring with the man beside her, seeking

to take her mind off the growling of her tummy by direct confrontation of the

issue...

"How about it, Pop?" little Nabiki asked of the man beside her, "We gonna find

something to eat or not?"

"Call me Uncle," Genma remarked for possibly the thousandth time, "And I'm

trying to think of something Nabiki-chan. It just isn't always that easy for a

martial artist..."

"Yeah, I know, so you keep saying," Nabiki sounded more than a little impatient,

all of seven years old and feeling the pressure to do something significant with

her life. Being energetic and of above normal intelligence she had already

construed that leaving her fortune in the hands of the man beside her was a bad

investment strategy, so she had resolved to take charge of affairs before things

settled into a pattern.

What was her father thinking letting her stay with the Saotomes? She could be

home enjoying a home cooked meal at the hands of her mother, although in truth

her mother had not been doing much cooking lately and had turned a lot of her

normal duties over to her big sister Kasumi...

Genma looked forlornly out into space and wondered why the fates would be so

cruel as to leave him without means to support himself and the daughter of his

best friend. It was much the same as when he had attempted this with his son,

Ranma, only to discover the hard way how difficult it was to raise a boy on the

road while training him to be a man among men. He had thought to find a

solution by fostering the boy with Soun's kids, reasoning that Ranma might

prosper in a home family environment while he enjoyed a merry life of freedom

for a few years before returning home with his son to Nodoka.

Unfortunately Soun was not gullible enough to go for the scheme and had insisted

that Genma take one of his daughters to train in Ranma's stead. It seemed that

Kimiko was feeling poorly and could not keep up with her usual routine of

chores, and then Nodoka had started making regular visits to the Tendos to spend

time with her old friend and had begun taking up many of Kimiko's duties. So

Genma did not dare return home, especially after having made that promise to his

wife to retain his freedom.

So Genma was right back where he had started with another mouth to feed,

although Nabiki had taken surprisingly well to his training. The little girl

was quick and adept at mastering the art behind the moves he was teaching her

and could adapt rapidly to surprise attacks as if she were born to it, making it

incredibly easy to coach her in new lessons. At the rate she was improving he

had no doubt that she would become a great martial artist, it was just the

little problem of feeding her growing appetite that was leaving him a little

flustered. The child ate like there was no tomorrow and it was a rare sight

indeed to find her without something sweet in her mouth to chew upon.

So it was that when the stray breeze carried a delectable aroma their way Genma

had a sense that the gods were answering his silent petition. Fresh baked goods

always had that effect on him, causing his mouth to water and his stomach to

growl like a hungry grizzly. He looked up to see a merchant pushing a yatai

their way, with a little boy trotting at his fathers side, and an immediate

strategy was revealed to Genma's mind that consisted of acquiring some food

without the trifling need to pay for it.

"Nabiki-chan," Genma said softly, "How would you like to learn a new kind of

game as a part of your training?"

Nabiki eyed her adopted Uncle with a childishly droll expression, "Oh

please...do I look like I'm six or something? You want me to steal food, is

that it?"

"Steal?" Genma reacted as if he were being accused of a capital offense,

"Certainly not! I just...well...thought maybe you could go over there and ask

the nice man if we might...uh...borrow a few free samples..."

Nabiki's grin looked playfully innocent on the surface but there was something

beyond her years in the twinkle of her eyes as she replied, "Let me handle this

one, Pops. I think I know how we can solve our little problem, just let me do

all the talking."

So saying Nabiki trotted ahead of him, skipping and jumping like a playful waif

in a faded yellow gi that oddly fit her dainty figure, then she came to stand in

the path of the yatai and said, "Oh, please sir, can I see some of that

delicious food you have to offer? Okonomiyaki isn't it?"

"Why yes," the man said in surprise, looking down at a brown haired girl with

twin pony tails framing an elfin face that held the potential of great mischief,

"Show the kid some of our wares, Ukyo. That your father over there trying to

look nonchalant?"

"Oh no, sir," Nabiki replied, "That's my uncle. He's taking me to see the

Cherry Hill Shrine to visit my cousin and pay our respects to my poor departed

grandmother. We don't have a lot of money since the trip here cost us most of

what we have..."

"Say no more," the gruff man with the grizzled beard replied, "You can both have

free samples, on the house. Ukyo, whip up your specialty and let's see if you

can impress the customers with your cooking."

Ukyo had been eyeing the strange girl with suspicion trying to decide if she

liked her or if they were simply being hustled, but the thought of her father

asking her to cook for strangers was enough to cancel out her apprehension. She

grinned with delight and went to work right away as her father sat down to take

a smoke on his pipe while she turned on the grill and started whipping up a

batch of her latest recipe, being very careful this time to get the right

balance to all of the ingredients.

As the elder Kuonji sat to the side he took notice of Genma's hesitant approach

and said, "It's all right, you can sit down and enjoy a rest with me. Your

niece is very polite, even a bit of a charmer."

"Um...yes, well..." Genma replied nervously, watching how Nabiki was distracting

the small boy with idle small talk.

Akira's eyes twinkled as he saw the other man sit down on the grass by his side

then said, "You're on a training mission, aren't you? Taking your niece out on

the road for a proper education in the arts?"

Genma blinked, "How did you know that? I mean...well, I made a promise to

Nabiki's father..."

"You don't remember me, do you?" Akira said with increasing amusement.

Genma blinked, then in even greater nervousness asked, "Uh...should I?"

"It's been a few years," the gruff man beside him snorted, patting his own

belly, "We've both put on a bit of weight since then, and I don't always have

time to shave, but I thought at least you'd remember me by my cooking."

Genma's eyes went wide, "Kuonji-san? Is that you?"

"Saotome-san," Akira grinned back, then took a long puff on his pipe before

adding, "You always were a mendicant. Never much cash to your name, either

broke or in trouble and always one step ahead of the posse."

"Surely I'm not that bad," Genma laughed in a way that that was supposed to be

dismissive, but before Akira could make a pointed comment their attention was

drawn back to the children, who were at that very moment locked in their own

very brief scuffle.

Nabiki had attempted to engage the small boy in some friendly conversation,

complimenting him for the skill he displayed in working the grill with tiny

spatulas designed to fit his small hands. The "boy" had warmed up to the

flattery immediately, but then Nabiki said something that seemed to upset him

for some reason.

"You're pretty good for a boy. I didn't know boys could be so handy at

cooking."

"Boy?" Ukyo had reacted to the comment with annoyance, "I'm not a boy! I'm a

girl!"

"A girl?" Nabiki replied with a start, "No way! You're pulling my leg, aren't

you? I'd never have figured."

Ukyo bristled, "Just why do you think I'm a Boy anyway? Just because of the way

I dress?"

"Well, yeah," Nabiki said thoughtfully, "Among other reasons."

"Reasons?" Ukyo growled, "What reasons?"

"Well, y'know," Nabiki shrugged, "Just stuff."

Ukyo was very careful to remove the okonomiyaki from the stove and lay them out

on paper plates before turning to face Nabiki with her spatulas at the ready,

"Oh yeah! Well you take that back!"

Nabiki raised eyebrows at the implied threat, "What are you getting so upset

about? You don't like people calling you a boy, why do you dress like one?"

"Look here," Ukyo growled in tiny rage, "I am one hundred percent girl, you got

that? I dress like my dad over there. So what are you, a fashion critic?"

"Look," Nabiki said reasonably, "I just meant you come across like a boy. You

behave like one, and with that Kansai accent of yours..."

"That's it!" Ukyo lunged forward, "You've had it!"

Ukyo was not intending to seriously hurt the other girl, just to frighten her

with her spatulas and make her back off from her statement, unfortunately the

girl was not standing in front of her anymore, and as Ukyo tried to figure out

where she had gotten to something pushed down on her head and she suddenly made

close acquaintance with the sidewalk.

Akira sat up from where he watched the other girl alight daintily on her feet

while his daughter pushed up from the ground with a very angry expression, "Not

bad. She handles herself quite well."

"Ah, I'm sorry about my niece..." Genma started to say, but the other man waved

the point away.

"Don't be," Akira said with a curious focus, "I want to see this."

Ukyo could not believe that the other girl had knocked her down with such casual

ease. She was further enraged at seeing the cute, smug look that girl was

giving her, so when she got back to her feet it was with full intent of fighting

in earnest.

"Try that again, you..." she growled when Nabiki side-stepped her lunge and

tripped her, then caught her other arm and gave it a tug that sent Ukyo tumbling

onto the grass ass over teakettle.

"You were saying?" Nabiki asked with annoying calmness.

"That's it!" Ukyo snarled as she lunged to her feet for the second time, "You've

had it!"

Nabiki just stood her ground and waited for the third lunge to be committed,

then she caught both of Ukyo's wrists with her free hands and vaulted into the

air, dragging the other girl off balance before letting go and planting her feet

squarely to the back of her head. Somehow Nabiki contrived to snatch one of the

okonomiyaki off the cart before landing atop of the stunned Ukyo, pinning her to

the grass while Nabiki casually took a bite from the Japanese pizza and said,

"Hey, this is good! I take it back, you cook lots better than any boy could."

To Ukyo's horrified surprise she heard her father burst out in laughter, then

Akira Kuonji came lumbering forward with the other man at his side and said,

"Not bad at all! You make one hell of a trainer, Saotome-san. My little Ucchan

could learn a lot from your methods, just like this little elfin minx of yours.

I take back half of everything I ever said about you."

"Oh...uh...that's good," Genma replied in relief, then his expression became

comically delighted as the other hand passed along the second okonomiyaki.

Genma wasted no time in making it vanish then said, "Delicious!"

"Isn't it though?" Kuonji senior said, "My little girl cooks the best, almost as

good as her mother."

"Girl?" Genma said very faintly.

"Thought she was a boy, huh?" Akira clapped Genma on the shoulder with a hearty

laugh, "Lots of people make that mistake, but my Ucchan really is a little

charmer if you give her half a chance. I'd even be willing to bet that she hits

it off with your niece in no time at all, especially seeing how they have so

much in common."

Ukyo could not believe her ears. Her father was praising this other girl for

beating her up? And what did he mean they had so much in common? It wasn't

right, it wasn't fair! How could he take her side over his own flesh and blood?

It was so unfair...!

It's so unfair, thought a miserable Pur Fum, all of six years old and feeling

both cast off and dejected. The other girls were always picking on her because

of her...unique problem, as if it were her fault that she had no pain threshold!

The least little scratch and she was a ball of tears and weakness. Small wonder

even her own mother could barely stand to look on her without shame! Some kind

of an Amazon she would make when she got older...why had the fates cursed her to

be such a miserable failure?

"Pur-Fum!"

She shut her eyes and silently cursed the gods that saw fit to answer her silent

petition in such a cruel and thoughtless manner. The fates really were having

sport at her expense this morning. Of all the people to come and seek to

comfort her it would have to be Mu-Tsu! She kept silent where she was and hoped

that he would not somehow find her. Unfortunately her luck was holding true and

the half blind fool stumbled on her hiding spot as if guided by a magnet.

"Pur Fum," the little boy said, as he appeared between the reeds that she was

hiding behind, "There you are, why did you run off like that? I know they were

being mean to you, but..."

"Go away," Pur Fum sighed in the vain hope that he would listen. Unfortunately

the little pest was as persistent as he was near sighted.

"You know I can't do that," he said with a "Please don't kick the puppy"

expression that almost made her regret the fact that she could not return his

affections, "I love you, Perfume, and I want to protect you..."

"Protect me?" Pur Fum sputtered, "You're the one who revealed my secret to

everybody! If it wasn't for you they wouldn't know how easy I am to hurt, and

they would keep bullying me and taunting me because of my weakness!"

"I'm sorry it happened," Mu Tsu replied, "But it was an accident, Pur Fum.

Please believe me, I wouldn't do something like that to you deliberately..."

"If you didn't want to cause trouble then why did you take off your glasses?"

Pur Fum sniffed, "You know you can't see three feet in front of your nose

without your prescription. You bumped me into that table because you couldn't

see where you were going, so now my life is ruined, and all because of you!"

"Is that why you're here, Pur Fum?" Mu Tsu said with concern, "Jusenkyo? You

know how dangerous it is! The Elders won't let us play here because of all the

magic pools..."

"So?" Pur Fum sniffed, "Maybe I'll just throw myself into one of them and get it

over with. Whatever I come out as can't be worse than this body! Or maybe I'll

get an uncharged pool and just die here, create a whole new Spring of the

Drowned Weak Girl. At least that way I won't wind up as such an embarrassment

to my family..."

"Don't talk like that!" Mu Tsu started to move towards her, but Pur Fum

scrambled to her feet and backed away.

"Don't touch me!" she snarled, "I don't want to be touched! Nobody understands

what it's like...I didn't ask to be like this!"

"Perfume," Mu Tsu sounded alarmed, "What are you doing?"

"Keep away from me, Mu-Tsu!" she cried as she turned and started running for the

cursed springs, "I really will do it, you know that!"

"No!" Mu Tsu cried as he ran after her, "Don't do it, Pur Fum! This isn't the

only way! You don't have to run away from the others. We can make them

understand, we..."

"Hah!" Pur Fum shot back, already at the first of the pools as she stayed on the

pathways and weaved around them, taunting him as she turned around and braced

herself to play a game of dodge if need be, "Now you'd better stay away from me,

Mu Tsu, or you're liable to fall into one of these things and wind up cursed

yourself! At least I have nothing to live for..."

"Sure you have something to live for, Pur Fum," Mu Tsu tried to sound heroic as

he added, "You have me!"

"Oh yeah?" Pur Fum called out as she started to turn around, "Well, who says I

want you?"

Unfortunately she did not see where her foot was planted and so she found

herself nearly stumbling into one of the springs by accident. Quick wits and

phenomenal reflexes saved her at the last moment as she started to recover her

balance, but unfortunately for her Mu Tsu saw her windmilling arms and-as was

typical for him-overreacted.

"Pur Fum!" Mu Tsu called out, then from one sleeve he produced a small chain

that he hurled in her direction. He had his glasses on so he was able to see

what he was aiming at, but unfortunately the sudden appearance of the chain had

a different effect than he had intended. Pur Fum reacted in surprise, then the

pain of the chain wrapping around her all but overwhelmed her other senses so

that she lost her balance entirely and went plunging head first into the water.

"Perfume?" Mu Tsu blinked with surprise, then he felt his chain grow slack and

reeled it back, only to find it empty, "Pur Fum! I...!"

Whatever heroic declaration he had been about to make was cut off as a creature

broke the surface of the water, small and light bodied with long pink fur that

darkened along the edges. The cat was struggling frantically to keep its head

above the water and just barely managed to reach the bank of the spring in order

to climb out, then shake her tiny body to shrug off some of the water.

"Pur Fum?" Mu Tsu was astonished as the little kitten glanced down at itself,

then its eyes grew wide as it examined its own paws, then felt the whiskers that

covered her nose. She swished her tail before she was even aware that she had

one and looked sourly in Mu Tsu's direction.

"Ah..." Mu Tsu backed away, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to do that. You forgive

me, don't you Perfume?"

A sharp hiss was his reply, and then the kitten sprang at his head and began

clawing away trying to scratch up his face. Mu Tsu cried out in dismay as he

sought to dislodge the kitten and started running with it clinging to his

shoulders. He lost his glasses rather swiftly, and then his balance as he

failed to see which was he was headed. The cat managed to leap clear just in

time as Mu Tsu landed in one of the pools and vanished while Pur Fum alighted on

all fours and looked with some concern over her shoulder.

"Meow?" Pur Fum asked, wondering what shape would surface from the water.

"Oh my," said a male voice as Pur Fum turned a guilty start up to see the kindly

face of the Jusenkyo tour guide, "What's this? We have someone fall into

Maonichuan, the Spring of Drowned cat? Oh...very tragic legend of Cat who drown

there long ago. Most unfortunate you fall in there, and-what's this? We have

two in one day? Now that very tragic!"

Pur Fum turned as she heard a form sputtering as it broke the water, and then

the small hairy body that was mousse turned large dark eyes her way and made an

inquiring noise, "Ook, Ook?"

"Too bad," the guide remarked, "You fall into spring of Drowned Monkey, there

very tragic legend of monkey which drown there two thousand eight hundred year

ago..."

"OOOK?" Mu Tsu started in reply while Perfume just sniffed her nose at him and

decided to start off towards their village. No sense waiting around for the

blind fool to find her since he was momentarily without his glasses, and

beside...she rather thought his new form suited him rather nicely.

Her only dread on the way home was finding a way to explain this to her

mother...that and hot water, provided anyone allowed her near their campfires.

In the state of mind that she was in she hardly cared if they drove her away or

even killed her. Life just sucked sometimes, and there was no use fighting it,

she was twice accursed now, which meant that a reckoning with the Elders would

soon be forthcoming...

Ukyo glared resentfully at the girl who was sitting beside her enjoying one of

her father's okonomiyaki as if nothing were the matter between them. This Tendo

Nabiki had such a smug air of self-confidence around her that it literally

begged for a comeuppance. Unfortunately Ukyo had to be nice and play the

hostess while her father and Nabiki's uncle chatted away like old school

buddies.

"So," Ukyo said by way of making conversation, "You're in training to be a

martial artist."

"That's right," Nabiki replied, licking her fingers clean of sauce before she

added, "That's why my father sent me to train with Uncle Genma. He traded me

for a boy named Saotome Ranma, Uncle's son, who's gonna marry my little sister

Akane some day. Lucky me, huh?"

"You don't want to train with your uncle?" Ukyo asked.

"It's not that," Nabiki replied, "Martial Arts is fun, but I miss having a roof

over my head and a bed to sleep on. I even miss school, if you can believe it,

and at least if I was home I'd eat regular meals every day and never go hungry."

Ukyo found her resentment easing a little as she sought for something else to

say, then studied the other girl a moment before saying, "You're hair's pretty."

"Thanks," Nabiki said as she took one of her pony tails into her small hand and

considered it before saying, "But lately I've been thinking of having it cut..."

"Cut?" Ukyo blinked, "Why would you wanna have it cut?"

"'Cause it gets in the way a lot," Nabiki said, "I think short hair's better for

martial arts anyway, give somebody else less to grab ahold if in a fight. My

big sister Kasumi has nice long hair, but I don't think mine will ever look as

good as hers is. Maybe if I have it cut to a nice pageboy style I won't have to

keep combing snarls out of it all the time. This life on the road really sucks

sometimes, even if we do get to see some pretty interesting places."

"Tell me about it," Ukyo replied, feeling more of her hostility and resentment

ebb away from her as she picked up her okonomiyaki and bit into it, relishing

the flavor of her father's home-style cooking...

"What have you to say for yourself, Pur Fum?"

"Nothing," Perfume replied, her eyes downcast as she accepted the reprimand of

her elders.

Elder Pao Dur turned to Elder Be Dea and said, "This is such a waste...two young

people cursed, and at such a young age. Bad enough that one child is already

marred by a debilitating disorder..."

"Indeed," Be Dea remarked, "This is proof again that our village is in desperate

need of fresh blood. We are becoming too in-bred, and many of this generation

are showing the signs of the slow attenuation of once noble bloodlines."

Elder Lo Xion eyed her fellow Elders and then turned to regard the six year old

child before them, the one who had a rare disorder that left her vulnerable to

the ridicule of others, whether they be contentious six year olds or obscenely

ancient-assuming one could tell the difference-and was now further weighted

down by the curse of Jusenkyo. It seemed too much of a crushing burden for so

small and helpless an individual and matters were hardly being helped by all the

talk going on as if she were not present.

"I am so sorry that my daughter has been such a trouble for you," said Ker Chief

to the others, "She has tried so very hard to bring honor to this house, but the

failing lies with me for not realizing sooner how her condition would impair her

ability to achieve full warrior status."

"There is no shame for you that this has occurred," said Be Dea, "Your child

simply was not destined to live up to the standards set by your illustrious

ancestor, in whose name she was so honored. The blame lays not with you or her

but is the will of the gods."

"If only the Matriarch were here to decide for us what status to give this child

now that she is so disqualified for warrior status," Pao Dur sighed,

"Unfortunately Cologne is tending to some personal difficulties within her own

family...that business with the Musk."

"Yes," Elder Kom Pac noted gravely, "So many incidents where young people have

gone against tradition. First that Lao Kane goes and marries a member of the

Musk, now a year later she comes home with his blood on her hands, and then she

defies our decision to leave the Musk alone, all for the sake of her son...and

on top of everything she drags several other of our best young warriors with her

into rebellion and exile...shocking."

"Indeed," Be Dea agreed, "Steps will have to be taken if we are to repair

relations with the Musk. The last thing we need at this time is another war

with those Creatures. What with the recent troubles in Beijing..."

"Yes," Pao Dur agreed soberly, "What we do not need is to draw attention from

the authorities to this region. We must do something to assure the Musk that we

mean to keep the peace that has existed between us for the past two generations.

This simply is not like in the old days..."

"Oh yes," Kom Pac agreed, "Before the Cultural Revolution we would have told

their Prince where he could stick his decrees. Lao was clearly provoked into

doing what she did, even if it does go against all of our traditions."

"It does not matter that she had cause," Be Dea responded harshly, "To murder

her own husband in defiance of all tradition is an affront that we cannot

ignore. This matter is not only politically sensitive, it risks setting a very

bad example to the other warriors of this generation. As such it cannot be

tolerated..."

"True," Pao Dur cautioned, "But be mindful that many warriors secretly agree

with what Lao did and find disfavor in the decisions we have made upon this

matter. Now we will be forced to exile those who sided with her overtly, Blo

Sum and Lo Tus, to make an example of them as well..."

"Let's not forget Cologne's adopted daughter, Soon-Li," Be Dea reminded, "Her

part in this was as great as the others..."

"But Soon Li had already left us when she chose to assist her adopted cousin,"

Kom Pac noted, "So exiling her would be moot and most probably reflect poorly on

us, maybe even make it seem as if we were being excessive..."

"At this point no action can be considered excessive with the welfare of our

tribe at stake," Be Dea suddenly took notice of the one member of their quorum

who had been silent the whole while, "What say you on this, Lo Xion?"

Lo Xion sighed as she regarded her fellow Elders, having spent her time studying

the silent child and wondering what thoughts were running through her head since

she had been seemingly ignored and all but forgotten during this conversation.

She felt the need to intervene on the child's behalf, but what could she say

that would convince the adults that the child still had worth to her family and

people? That had been troubling her the whole while, which was why she had only

half listened in to the chatter of her fellow Elders. Now that attention was

focused her way again she looked resolutely into their expressions, having

already formulated her reply without real effort.

"The Law does require banishment, and if it is the will of the Council, then

banishment it will be," she noted gravely, "But keep in mind that there will be

consequences if we do undertake this action. There is justice on Lao's side,

even if she did ignore sage advice against marrying the Musk prince named

Julep..."

"I never liked that inbred son of a Tiger anyway," Pao Dur grumbled.

"Granted," Be Dea said, "But we've already gone over all of that, so it's

already been decided. Now...about this child of your house..."

"That, too, has already been decided," a voice they all knew and recognized drew

their attention towards the door where Elder Kho Lon had appeared without notice

or warning, "The child will come with me and be trained at the side of my Great

Granddaughter."

Lo Xion arched her eyebrows, yet her inner senses and a prickling along the base

of her spine made her look attentively at her ancient rival, a sure sign that

destiny was being decided at that moment.

Pur Fum looked up, surprised to find that the Matriarch herself had taken an

interest in her case, but even more amazed that she would accept Perfume with

all her imperfections.

"Elder?" Pur Fum's mother inquired with a most surprised expression.

"Your daughter will leave your house and become my student," Kho Lon said softly

in a tone that brooked no contradiction, "She will replace the one who was my

great granddaughter, she whose name must be stripped from the memory of all

Amazons, to nevermore be spoken."

Pur Fum's eyebrows threatened to disappear into her hairline. She was to be

adopted by the Matriarch as well? She was stunned beyond imagining to have her

fortunes suddenly reversed in such a manner, with the honor placed upon her far

greater than she could believe or credit. Against all tradition she turned to

stare at Kho Lon, who alone of all present was short enough for her to meet at

eye level.

"Elder," Pur Fum's mother said hesitantly, "I would never question your

decision, but for what reason have you decided this?"

"Because I believe that your child still has potential to be a great warrior,"

Cologne said, "And because I do not believe that she will achieve this potential

if she remains where she is, an object of ridicule and scorn to your family.

Place her in my care and I will do everything to see to it that she never

disgraces herself again or brings shame on those who once counted her as

family."

"Curious," Be Dea said, "What is your interest in this girl? You surely don't

believe that she could be a proper training companion for your Xian Pu?"

"Any why not?" Kho Lon replied, "Do you believe that any child who trains under

my care could fail to be anything but outstanding? You forget that I have

trained the best of our warriors for nearly three centuries of Amazon

history..."

"If you believe that this child can be a credit to herself and others,

Matriarch," Lo Xion spoke up, "Then I say that the blessings of the gods have

fallen upon her, and far be it from the rest of us mere mortals to second guess

them. Let the child train with Xian Pu, it is certainly no worse a fate than to

allow her to suffer the continual taunts of our village."

The other Elders all exchanged looks. Lo Xion side with the Matriarch? That

was exceedingly rare! But no one had an effective rebuttal to that statement,

so the matter was decided and Pur Fum soon found herself walking alongside one

who was both the leader of her tribe and their greatest warrior yet living,

wondering why she had been so favored to be adopted into her family. Her

concerns only worsened when she saw Xian Pu, who had been waiting in the

Matriarch's house and who reacted with immediate dislike upon seeing Pur Fum's

presence.

"What is she doing here?" Xian Pu said angrily, only to fall silent as the

Matriarch reprimanded her with a sharp, "Do not be so quick to judge, let alone

criticize. It has come to my attention that you have been slackening in your

studies. I have decided to adopt this one to serve as your training companion.

You will study together and I will mark your progress by comparing the

achievement made by one to the other and thus determine your ultimate

threshold..."

"With her?" Xian Pu said in both disbelief and contempt, no doubt remember their

many earlier clashes in the market places where Xian Pu had been made to feel

frustrated, before Pur Fum's secret had been uncovered by Mousse, "What has a

weak one like her to teach me, Elder? Surely you could have done better!"

"Is that so," the Matriarch said with a crafty smile, "Then perhaps you would

care to demonstrate your superiority by striking a blow against this child. One

blow should be sufficient to prove whether or not she is worthy of my training."

Pur Fum reacted to that statement with alarm, but Xian Pu only smiled and said,

"With pleasure!"

As quick as a shot the purple haired child came charging up at Pur Fum, who

reacted instinctively by dodging to the side and intercepting Xian Pu's fist

before it could reach her, exactly the way her mother had taught her. Xian Pu's

eyes went wide in alarm as their numerous previous clashes was repeated on their

living room floor with her landing flat on her back while Pur Fum stood over

her, still holding the wrist she had grasped without thinking.

"You still think she is too weak to train with you?" Cologne's smile was now

more relaxed and at ease, her point having been demonstrated, "It is true that

Pur Fum lacks your ability to shrug off minor discomforts, but she has

compensated for this by developing lightning reflexes to prevent just such an

injury. When even a little pain is too great to bear the only choice a warrior

has is to strengthen her defenses to where it becomes nearly impossible to touch

her. You must learn to develop a stronger attack plan if you plan to penetrate

her guard and strike the single blow that you know will end the encounter."

Pur Fum looked up at the Matriarch in surprise, "Is that why you have adopted

me, Elder? To help Xian Pu become a stronger fighter?"

"Partly yes," Kho Lon replied, "And in part because I believe your own potential

has been demonstrated by your ability to hide your weakness from others for so

long. Only a blind fool like Mu Tsu could have exposed the truth by mischance.

You are indeed a gifted child in that your perceptions are far more sensitive

than that of a normal warrior adept your own age. For example...what are they

saying on in the house two rows down from here?"

Pur Fum blinked, then paused to listen as she picked up the sounds of two voices

raised in a shouting match, both heated and angry yet not quite to the level

where violence was impending.

"Ro Lan is browbeating her husband, Kon Dom, for eating a berry pie that she had

intended to share with Po Lish and her husband," Pur Fum slowly answered, "He

says that he was hungry and that she did not tell him in advance who the pie was

for. She says he eats too much and will be too fat to perform...I'm not certain

if I understand the correct martial arts maneuver she refers to..."

"Never mind," Kho Lon said hastily, "The point is that their voices are clear

enough for you to understand their meaning. Can you perceive the same sounds,

Great Granddaughter?"

Xian Pu had regained her footing by this point and was looking at Pur Fum with

very round eyes, but she snapped to attention at the question and said, "No,

Elder...they're just noises to me without any meaning."

"And what does your nose tell you, child?" Kho Lon directed her question back in

Pur Fum's direction.

Pur Fum sniffed the air then said, "Si Kle has just walked by, I can tell by the

honeysuckle smell she uses in her bath oils."

"Can you smell the same perfume, Xian Pu?" Kho Lon asked her designated heir.

Xian Pu tried but had to shake her head and said, "No, Elder...no one could

smell it on this day of spring. There's too much pollen in the air..."

"What do you say to that, child?" Kho Lon asked Pur Fum.

"She's right about the pollen," Pur Fum said, "I smell six varieties of

wildflower and two herbal plants that I recognize, but it's not so bad as on

other days. I'm used to dealing with much more pollen than this on really warm

days of the summer."

The Matriarch turned her smile towards Xian Pu and said, "Still willing to call

this one weak? In spite of her vulnerability she has shown remarkable talent.

Indeed, I dare say that the two of you constitute the premier talent of this

generation, therefore I have decided that you train together, and that is all

that will be said on the matter."

Xian Pu gave a hard look at Pur Fum but said nothing. Clearly it was not the

end of the matter so far as she was concerned, but she would not say so in front

of her Elder, especially not in light of having been made to look like a fool.

Pur Fum sighed inwardly, knowing that she would have a hard challenge ahead of

her convincing the other girl that she was not her mortal enemy. They would

have to build a level of trust if they were to train together, and it was hard

to have that trust when all that they so far had was bad blood and some

unpleasant moments, obviously a very weak foundation upon which to build a

potential friendship...

Nabiki was enjoying the carnival immensely, having cruised by various booths and

tables until she settled upon one that most captured her interest. Having

borrowed a single hundred yen bill from her Uncle Kuonji she had elected to play

the coin toss, sending five-yen coins into small fish bowls, and now she had the

proprietor of this booth sweating profusely at the unbelievable "lucky streak"

that had earned her more than half his inventory.

Now Nabiki was in the negotiating process, having convinced the man that five

thousand-yen was a bargain to reclaim his stock, with the added promise on her

end not to tell anybody and thus ruin his reputation. The man concluded the

deal thinking he had been conned into believing a midget was actually this cute

girl with the bowl haircut, or that he had been stung by a professional and

dared not risk exposing this fact as it would call unwanted attention to his

operation, so by his lights the five thousand yen was actually a good bargain.

Nabiki collected her money and was about to turn away when she heard Ukyo

calling out to her. Giving her new friend her full attention, Nabiki asked her

what was up and why did Ukyo appear so angry.

"There's this guy I lost money to!" Ukyo replied, "He plays cards and calls

himself the Gambler King, and when I lost to him I got so mad that I bet him all

of my spatulas..."

"Gambler King?" Nabiki asked with a puzzled expression, "Ukyo...why did you want

to play cards against someone like that? Don't you know gambling's a suckers

game unless you know what you're doing?"

"You're saying I don't know what I'm doing?" Ukyo huffed.

Nabiki folded her arms and said, "What all did you lose?"

Ukyo shuffled her feet for a moment before replying, "My father's yatai..."

"I rest my case," Nabiki rolled her eyes, "Ucchan, what were you thinking? Does

your father know about this, and how could you bet your family's livelihood?

You don't even own it yet..."

"But I will!" Ukyo insisted, "Some day father is going to give me the yatai when

he retires, and when it's mine that rotten Gambler King will come to confiscate

it, all because I gave him my marker..."

"Marker, eh?" Nabiki smiled, "I'd like to meet this Gambler King fellow and see

if he's really all that good. Maybe he can teach me a thing or two about card

tricks..."

"You lose," Nabiki crowed in triumph for the fifth consecutive time, relishing

the look of stark disbelief on the face of her larger opponent, who could not

seem to seriously credit that a seven year old child was able to beat him at

card play.

"It can't be!" the Gambler King said in his heavily accented Japanese, "You're

cheating!"

"What makes you say that?" Ukyo asked.

"Because he's cheating and I'm still winning," Nabiki said with relish, "Isn't

that right, Mister Card-cheat?"

"Cheating?" the Gambler King reacted, "You insult me, lass! What grounds do you

have to make such a vile accusation of your Elders?"

"Oh, I dunno," Nabiki grinned, then her small hands moved like a blur, catching

the man by the sleeve of one arm and yanking hard, tearing it loose to reveal a

flurry of cards that tumbled all around them, "How about that for starters?"

The children and their parents who had gathered around to watch the contest

between the diminutive Nabiki and the middle aged card player (who did in some

odd way resemble the playing card King of Hearts, though not in standards of

behavior) all gasped in astonishment at the perfidy in their midst. Ukyo was

not the least outraged person present, but she clenched her tiny fists and

stamped a foot as she growled, "Why you-Cheater!"

"I watched you play before I placed my own bet," Nabiki smiled, "I knew the

sight of a thousand yen bill would get your interest, so I lost the first hand

just to see how you managed it. The eye is quicker than the hand here, mister,

and now you're exposed for what you are, a miserable card-cheat!"

"Why you..." The large man started to lurch forward, but one glance between two

friends and then Ukyo and Nabiki were both hurtling through the air to land

solid kicks against the man's chin and chest. He toppled backwards and groaned

a bit, as much in pain as surprise, while their Uncle Genma and Kuonji-san

approached, attracted by the commotion.

"What's going on here?" Genma asked.

"Oh, nothing, Pops," Nabiki replied, "I was just helping Ukyo expose a guy who

was trying to cheat little kids out of their money. The guy's a real softie,

glass jaw and everything..."

"What?" Genma was suddenly enraged as he turned towards the Gambler King and

hauled the man up off his feet, shaking him until his teeth rattled, "How dare

you do such a thing to innocent young children? What kind of a man are you?

You ought to be arrested!"

"I think I'll get the authorities myself, "Akira noted, feeling proud of his

daughter even though he was reluctant to publicly show it.

"Wow," Ukyo said, greatly impressed, "Uncle Genma sure looks upset."

"Don't look now," Nabiki said at the level of a bare whisper, "But Pops just

picked that guy's wallet, not that he doesn't deserve it of course."

"Gee thanks, Nabiki," Ukyo turned in gratitude, "I owe you one for saving face

with me and my father."

"Hey, it's what friends do for friends, right?" Nabiki replied in a way that

hinted of ulterior motives, "You can owe me one for now. I'm sure we'll find a

way you could make it up to me later..."

"What is this?" Pur Fum asked as she stared at the metal wrist bands that

Cologne had just locked about her wrists and ankles.

"These," Kho Lon replied, "Are a part of your training. You and Xian Pu will

wear these weights and grow accustomed to their encumbrance while I train your

minds and bodies. In time you will know why as you grew stronger in the art.

Continue to train together and the both of you will be warriors out of legend.

Now...demonstrate to me the basic moves for Fire, Earth Air and Water combat."

Xian Pu and Pur Fum exchanged glances then silently obeyed their Elder as they

practiced side-by-side the motions of the four primal elements that formed the

square base of the Pyramid of Light. Each knew the moves by heart, but with the

added resistance provided by the weights they found it difficult to manage the

pace, and it was much more exhausting as they went from one elemental stance to

the next in sequence. By the end of the Water combat motions each was ready to

fall down with exhaustion, but neither would do so as long as the other one

remained standing, so instead they remained in their stances of rest while

glaring at one another, waiting for the other one to drop first.

Kho Lon hid her smile of approval. This was indeed working exactly as intended.

The two girls already respected each other as combatants, and now a rivalry had

begun that was bound to be advantageous in motivating them to perform up to or

surpassing the level of the other. As one increased in skill the other would

naturally struggle to compensate and exceed them, and so on until each had

reached their maximum potential as a fighter.

"Rest a moment, then begin the Three Elements of Ascension," she informed the

breathless, panting children, "Iron, Wood and Spirit, and when you have finished

that you shall rest again, and then we will begin with animal forms, and you

will do them until I am satisfied that you are ready to learn something new."

Pur Fum and Xian Pu exchanged another nervous look between them, then resolved

themselves to a very grueling practice session. It would be a long time until

they reached full warrior status and already they were sweating it out, but

neither would yield an inch or concede weakness. They silently began their

motions, struggling with the added weight on their arms and legs, unconsciously

moving in synchrony with one another like a pair of well balanced six-year old

bookends...

"Genma-san, I've got to hand it to you," Akira said over a bottle of sake, "You

really know how to train your ward. How did she do that trick with the

fishbowls anyway? I hear the proprietor was even willing to pay her a bribe so

nobody would find out, but naturally everybody did who was watching..."

"Oh, its nothing really, Kuonji-san," Genma replied as he sipped another cup of

sake and relished the burning flavor going down his throat, "Just a matter of

learning how to throw something without thinking about it. Thinking's the

problem with most people tossing things accurately you know...they get their

egos in the way, tell themselves they can't do it, unconsciously mess up the

signals from brain to arm...or something like that. The master explained it to

me and Soun when we were in training...just a really easy thing letting your

body do all the work for you, from the eye to the arm to the wrist to the

fingers. We got amazing brains that can figure out the trajectories and...stuff

like that...and if we let them do their job then there's never any problem..."

"But only if the body and mind are as one," Akira noted, "That's the trick I've

been trying to teach Ucchan with throwing spatulas...you just gotta let things

happen, throw by instinct, feel the target and all that..."

"Yep, that's the key all right," Genma noted, holding out his cup for more sake,

which Akira obligingly poured, "It's all instinct and gut-level intuition

and...whatever I said. Nabiki picked it all up in just a few weeks of

training...she really is amazing, that one."

"Yes, so I've seen," Akira mused, "She's training Ukyo even better than I could.

It's so hard knowing how to raise a little girl to be a great martial artist and

carry on the family Ryu. I don't know you've managed to do, Genma-san..."

"Oh, no trick to it," Genma replied, "Nabiki takes care of herself most of the

time. I just see to it she does her katas and warm-up exercises every morning

and she takes care of the rest. She's a strong girl, and very smart, she'll be

a great martial artist some day. I promised her father I'd see to that..."

"You've shown me you know the way about that," Akira stared into his cup a

moment before adding, "Ukyo and Nabiki...they get along pretty good. A pity

they're both girls..."

"Oh?" Genma asked, "Why is that?"

Akira sighed, "I won't lie to you, Genma-san...I've not been in the best of

health lately. It's getting harder every morning to get up and push the cart

around. I've been thinking of taking it easy, maybe buy a shop somewhere and

set down roots for a bit. This life on the open road is for a younger man than

me...though it seems as if you were born to the life."

"Oh, I just know how to get along," Genma said with false modesty, "And what are

you talking about? You look fine in our sparring matches, maybe a little slow

with your guard, and you could stand to do more work on your dodging..."

"Exactly," Akira replied, "Which is why I'd consider it a favor it you took Ukyo

with you on your training mission...just for a while, long enough for her to

learn a little something about Kempo."

"Take her with me?" Genma was almost stunned into sobriety by that statement,

"Whatever for? Don't you love your daughter?"

"It's not something I can boast about," Akira said in completely sober terms,

"But I do love her...I just don't always know how to show it. I've not been

much of a father to her lately...my fault, I suppose, but she can be such a

handful always training. I feel it in my bones that she has it in her to be a

better chef than I ever was, maybe even a far greater martial artist. If only

she had the right trainer, or someone who could keep her on the path of true

Martial Arts glory..."

"I'm flattered that you think so highly of me," Genma replied, "But I'm

overwhelmed enough just looking after Nabiki."

"Nonsense," Akira waved a hand dismissively, "You just got done saying how easy

it was with your niece all but raising herself. Ukyo's the same way, I'm

absolutely positive that she'll pull more than her own weight if she travels

with you, and with someone close to her own age to train with..."

"Nabiki is one year older," Genma pointed out, "At that age a single years more

growth is quite an advantage."

"But it won't be one forever," Akira sighed and shook his head, "It's too bad

you never had a son, my friend...it would even improve matters..."

"Oh, I have a son," Genma replied, "Didn't I tell you? His name's Ranma and

he's currently with his mother at the Tendos."

Akira blinked, "Care to run that by me again? You have a son, but here you are

out training Soun's daughter? Why is that?"

"Uh...um...part of the deal we made, really," Genma replied, his befuddled wits

made thinking even harder than usual, "We pledged to unite our families, so

Ranma's engaged to marry Soun's youngest daughter, Tendo Akane, whose about the

same age as my son. They've been together the last few months while I've been

looking after Soun's middle child. His wife, you see, has been feeling rather

poorly of late and can't afford the strain of looking after three daughters..."

"So you and your wife have nobly stepped in to help out," Akira sounded

impressed, "How noble of you, and such a pity, really, your son being betrothed

and all that."

"Why so?" Genma asked, having forgotten the original thrust of the conversation.

"Because I've been worried about my Ucchan ever finding a man of her own," Akira

replied, "I want my daughter to be happy, but most people tend to think that

she's a boy because of the way she dresses and acts. I was thinking maybe if

your won and my daughter were engaged that Ukyo's future would be secured and I

could finally rest easy."

"But of course that's impossible," Genma noted, "My son is marrying Tendo

Akane."

"And such a damn shame that is," Akira said grimly, "After all, part of Ukyo's

dowry would be my yatai, and she could practice cooking you meals so that you

and Nabiki wouldn't have to go hungry..."

"Sold!" Genma burst out, clasping Akira's hands, "I mean...what a noble offer

you have made. I'm truly touched by your plight and have decided to reconsider

my position. I just need to consult with Nabiki to let her know that Ukyo will

be coming with us."

Akira smiled, his sales pitch having achieved the right objective of swaying

Genma's opinion. As much as he liked his old friend he knew all too well that

Genma tended to think more with his stomach than his head, so convincing him was

just a patter of appealing to his baser instincts. Akira had been meaning to

set the yatai aside anyway as his wandering days were surely numbered.

Arthritis was making the simple act of walking hurt a lot more these days, so he

would use the money he had been quietly salting away for retirement to open his

own restaurant. In a way Genma was doing him a favor to take the cart off his

hands, giving Akira the perfect excuse to finally settle.

"The yatai is yours then," Akira replied, pouring more sake so that they could

drink about it, each man feeling a rosy glow of brotherly togetherness, though

Genma was quick to hide a slight frown as he belatedly realized just what it was

he had agreed to.

Some distance away Ukyo and Nabiki came upon the pair singing to the moon as if

they were in a Karaoke bar, and Ukyo murmured, "What do you suppose has them so

happy?"

"Who knows?" Nabiki smiled thoughtfully, licking on a Popsicle while forming a

typically mischievous expression, "Looks like they'll keep drinking until they

pass out, and you know what that means?"

"No," Ukyo asked, intrigued, "What?"

Nabiki allowed her smile to show before answering, "We get a pair of magic

markers and doodle over both of their faces."

Ukyo shared her grin as she relished the idea. Why had she never thought about

doing that with her father? Nabiki was such a fun person to hang around with,

always full of all kinds of neat suggestions...

"What's wrong?" Pur Fum asked Xian Pu as she saw her companion frown.

"We are being watched," the other child said.

"Oh," Pur Fum shrugged, "That's just Mu Tsu. He crept up a little while ago and

thinks I didn't hear his approach. Ignore him, he's harmless."

"Harmless?" Xian Pu said in disbelief, "Wasn't he the one who cursed you?"

Perfume growled an unintelligible response to that and went back to practicing

with the streamers to get the pattern down exactly as Elder Kho Lon wanted.

After that she would go to work with the punji sticks and three-sectioned staff,

hoping this time to do the motions correctly. Kho Lon was stingy with praise

but liberal when it came to finding fault in one's motions, but it wouldn't be

so hard to please her adopted Great Grandmother so much if it were not for the

weighted cloths that Kho Lon insisted she and Xian Pu wear in place of lighter

clothing.

Xian Pu sighed and started her own practice motions employing a Chinese

straight-edged sword, remarking rather off-handedly, "You know he wouldn't be

bothering you now if you hadn't rescued him from those girls two seasons ago..."

"I know!" Pur Fum snapped, then glared directly ahead as she added, "I just

didn't like the way they were picking on him on account of his eyesight. How

was I to know he'd take it the wrong way? I don't like people picking on others

who are weaker. What kind of warrior does that? It's hardly a fit test of our

combat skills."

Xian Pu rolled her eyes, "I don't know how you put up with him. If he were

coming onto me like that I'd belt him into next Harvest Season. He's so

annoying..."

"You've got that right," Pur Fum rolled her eyes, then redoubled her movements

with the streamers, flicking them out to strike at a series of imagined

opponents. After she'd worked the edge off her anger, though, she paused to

remark, "But in a way I feel sorry for him as well. He puts up with so much

taunting from the others, I think I'd explode if I had to take that kind of

criticism."

Xian Pu almost stumbled and lost her balance. She righted herself only to turn

and stare with disbelief at her companion, "You have got to be kidding me! Pity

Mu Tsu? That's like feeling pity for a hedgehog!"

"I know he's a lot of trouble, and he can't see three meters ahead of him

without those prescription glasses your mother has him wear," Pur Fum remarked

with almost casual disinterest, "And yes he is unbelievably thick headed and

occasionally quite stupid, but did he ask for all of that? Was he born accursed

of the Gods in the same way that I was? Who better to understand what it must

be like for him than me? Remember, aside from you everyone else in this village

thinks I'm just some pathetic weak girl who isn't worthy of the Matriarch's

training."

Xian Pu had no response for that. In some ways her friend was appallingly soft-

hearted and in other ways she was incredibly annoying, but Xian Pu had gotten to

know her better after months of intense training side-by-side, and she would

have been the last person in their village to concede that Pur Fum was weak

about anything, aside from her hypersensitivity to pain. In some ways she even

envied her companion a little for that as it got Pur Fum out of many painful and

exacting exercises that their Great Grandmother insisted on Xian Pu performing.

It would be nice to have an excuse like that to get out of those duties, but

then again Pur Fum was hardly being treated to a light workload...

Xian Pu just sighed and resumed her training, "You ask me you're begging for

trouble. Mu Tsu just doesn't understand that you have no feelings for him

beyond pity, and if he keeps this up he's going to annoy Great Grandmother..."

Pur Fum stopped practicing and signaled to Xian Pu to fall silent. Both girls

paused to listen, then Xian Pu made out a crackling in the bushes and went on

the alert, both girls tensing as if expecting an ambush.

Instead the small body that fell out from the bushes and made a startled gasp

hardly seemed all that threatening, especially with Mu Tsu hovering over it with

a menacing expression.

"Who are you?" the boy demanded, "And why are you stalking Pur Fum?"

"Please!" the small girl whimpered, "I didn't mean any harm! I was just

watching them practice..."

Xian Pu and Pur Fum each blinked their eyes at the sight of a girl about their

own ages cowering under Mu Tsu, who had a chain wrapped around her small body.

Mu Tsu looked uncertain about what he had caught himself, but the boy was not

ready to lower his guard so easy and said, "You were spying on them? Were you

hoping to discover something about their training methods to help you defeat

them in the contests?"

"No!" the girl pleaded, "It was nothing like that! You have to understand, I

was not watching them from any intended malice..."

"Mu Tsu," Xian Pu called to the boy, "Let her go this instant!"

"But she could be a spy or..." Mu Tsu started to protest, but Pur Fum more

gently cut him off.

"We won't know if you don't let her up for us to question. She doesn't seem all

that threatening to me, and I, for one, would like to know who she is before you

pound her."

The boy relented, seeing the hard look Pur Fum gave him. His glasses fogged

over as he thought about being even momentarily the center of her attention, so

he did not notice when the child he had cornered slipped out from his chain and

got to her feet to put a few meters distance between them.

"Who are you?" Pur Fum asked the nervous child, who had bright blue hair and

astonishing pink eyes with distinctive Amazon features that made her seem quite

pretty for her tender age. There was something about the girl that made Pur Fum

suddenly want to protect her.

"Lo Xion," the child replied, quietly adding, "The younger."

Xian Pu reacted to the name, "You're the great granddaughter of Lore Master Lo

Xion, cousin to Ka-Chu, a warrior I once fought against..."

"Y-Yes," the girl replied timidly, "I'm sorry I was spying on you...I wanted to

see you practice. You two are the best in our village and...I...well...I just

wanted to watch."

"To spy you mean," Mu Tsu persisted, "What were you going to do, tell your

cousin about the special training techniques of the Matriarch?"

"No!" the girl all but shouted, "I just wanted to watch! I'm...I'm sorry. Let

me go home, I won't tell anyone what I've seen..."

"Why did you want to watch us train?" Pur Fum inquired, "Did you hope to gain

any pointers?"

The blue haired girl just looked down and said, "Please...please don't tell my

mother..."

Xian Pu frowned and said, "Your mother is Balm, correct? Why isn't she out

training you?"

"My mother has patrol duty," Lo Xion replied, "I was with my Aunt Silk, who's

consulting with the Matriarch, when I discovered you two were training together

and...well...I was curious. You two are so good. I wish I was half as good a

warrior as you are."

"Silk is studying to be a Lore Master, right?" Pur Fum exchanged looks with Xian

Pu, "I guess you didn't mean us any harm. I'm sorry if Mu Tsu overreacted..."

"He tends to do that a lot," Xian Pu noted.

"Hey!" Mu Tsu immediately protested, when another voice cut into their

conversation.

"There you are, I thought I told you not to wander off like that."

Lo Xion winced and said, "I'm sorry, Aunt Silk. I was just curious...I didn't

mean to cause trouble..."

"Of course you didn't, child," said a kindly brown haired woman who looked to be

in her late twenties, "I just worry that you might be disturbing the Matriarch's

great granddaughters while they are working out. I'm so sorry about this, Xian

Pu, Pur Fum, please forgive the interruption."

"Oh, it was no problem, Auntie," Xian Pu replied to one whom she knew of only as

best friend to her mother, "It was really Mu Tsu who was being disruptive."

"Hey!" Mu Tsu protested once again.

"She's right, boy," the Matriarch said as she joined in the conversation, "You

shouldn't be hanging around bothering my students like this. Xian Pu and Pur

Fum are more than capable of looking out for themselves. And you two...get back

to your training!"

"Yes, Great Grandmother," both Xian Pu and Pur Fum said in chorus, though each

shot a coy look towards Lo Xion, whom they saw was smiling shyly in their

direction, much to the amusement of her Aunt and the annoyance of both Mu Tsu

and their elder...

Genma had thought long and hard over what to do before taking decisive action to

head of what he thought would be a potential problem in the making. It had been

an agonizing choice to make, yet what else could he do? He had made an

honorable agreement with Kuonji-san that could not be honored, not if his

promise to Soun Tendo were to be upheld. After all, it wasn't like the boy

could marry two iinazuke...

If Ranma were with him he could offer the boy a choice, but in the end it all

came down to Genma's pledge to Soun that their families would be united. So he

had chosen to remove himself from Kuonji's presence, taking the yatai cart with

him in the dead of night after insuring that Akira had drunk more than Genma the

night before and would be likely to sleep longer and wake up with more of a

headache. That would discourage all thought of pursuit and give Genma enough of

a head start to avoid a messy altercation.

His one problem, of course, was convincing his niece of the necessity behind his

actions. Genma had already learned the hard way just how difficult it was to

deceive this child, who tended to question everything and take nothing on

assumption. He had worked out his plan very carefully by insuring that she

would be tired from a long workout and sleep longer and more soundly than usual,

then he had placed her in the yatai with sufficient blankets to muffle any bumps

and jarring from that might disturb her rest and stated out with the hope that

she would not wake up until they were a good long ways away from their previous

campsite.

Of course Nabiki was a very sound sleeper, so when she got up it was almost

daybreak, and what she found was that she was inside the enclosed area formed

when the roof of the yatai was retracted for easy transport. She sound of the

cart's wheels against smooth asphalt, coupled with the slight jarring sensation

of movement, told her that they were moving down the road at a steady pace, so

she got up and knocked on the hatch to get someone's attention, intending to ask

her uncle Kuonji just why she was sleeping over the grill heavily swaddled in

blankets.

The cart ceased moving, then a moment later the roof was lifted up as her uncle

Genma looked down with a guilty smile that was obviously hiding something.

"Sleep well, Nabiki-chan?" he asked in a much too casual manner.

"Uncle Genma?" Nabiki rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sought to extricate

herself from the blankets, "Where are we? What's going on? Where are uncle

Kuonji and Ucchan?"

"Nabiki-chan," Genma said tentatively, "I have something that I need to explain

to you..."

Nabiki shot the man a sharp-eyed glance and said, "You stole their yatai?"

"No!" Genma insisted, reaching into his gi to pull out a folded slip of paper,

"I didn't steal it, Kuonji-san gave it to me for a present so that you and I

would not be hungry. You see? I have the marker you won back from the Gambler

King and it even has Kuonji-san's signature on it..."

"So you stole that from him too?" Nabiki said in growing agitation.

"I didn't steal it!" Genma insisted, "I'm just...holding onto it until we both

can find lodgings to settle down during your training. The Yatai will help to

feed us, then when we're done with it I'm giving it back to Kuonji."

"Oh really?" Nabiki jumped down from the cart and looked up at the burly man

whom she knew could not be trusted any farther than she could throw him, "I

don't suppose you'd care to let me hear that from their own lips, would you?

Why don't we go find uncle Kuonji and Ucchan and ask if they know that you have

their yatai?"

"Uh...we can't," Genma winced nervously, "They took off while you were resting.

You had such a busy day you slept right through our good-byes..."

Nabiki sighed. Her uncle Genma was such a terrible liar! She would have to

work on him to make him less of a liability in the future. In the meantime

there was the problem posed by the yatai, which was probably stolen goods and

likely to get them both into trouble, especially since she knew her uncle Genma

was a lousy cook, and Nabiki had never even thought about cooking her own

supper.

She would have to do something about it, most probably sell it or give it away

somewhere and find another way of earning their meals. They had managed to put

together some money under her careful management schemes but it was pitiful

compared to what they would need for months of open travel, not made any easier

by Genma's avarice and clumsiness at money management. No way could she trust

her future to this idiot, whose only skill lay in martial arts. Nabiki would

have to be the brains for their outfit and keep a close eye on uncle Genma to

avoid more entanglements like this business with the yatai.

She only hoped that-wherever Ukyo was-her friend would somehow find it in her

heart to one day forgive this...

"Dad!" Ukyo all but screeched, "The Yatai's gone! Somebody took it, and I can't

find Nabiki or Uncle Genma anywhere...?"

"Huh?" Kuonji-senior said gruffly, his mouth full of cotton and his head three

sized larger than normal, "Wuzzat? Oh...the yatai...guess that's not too

surprising..."

"What?" Ukyo said, "What do you mean it's not surprising? The Yatai's gone..."

"Not gone," Akira snorted, half-burying his face in the pillow he carried with

his portable futon, "Genma probably took it..."

"What?" Ukyo reacted, "But...why?"

Akira sighed. His tongue really did taste like old shoe leather. He should

have guessed the reason for Genma being so generous the last night with the

sake...

"Calm down, kid," he tried to sound reasonable, "I made an agreement with Genma,

that's all, in exchange for the yatai..."

"WHAT?" if anything Ukyo's voice sounded angrier than ever, "You what?

But...that was our livelihood! How are we going to support ourselves? What

were you thinking, Dad?"

Akira gave a tired grunt, muttering soft curses into his pillow for Genma not

taking the kid with him as promised. Now he would have to explain things to his

daughter, and he really hated having to play the scolding father...

"Ucchan," he replied, turning his face from the pillow to address her, "We don't

need to worry about anything. I've already put money down on a new place where

we'll be staying..."

"For how long?" Ukyo asked with suspicion.

"Hopefully quite a while," Akira replied, "You see, we're starting up a

restaurant, so the Yatai is no longer needed..."

"N-Nani?" Ukyo blinked, "Wait a minute...you bought a restaurant and you didn't

tell me, Dad? But...that yatai is for me! You promised I could have it when I

got older..."

"And you will," Kuonji said, "It's your dowry, after all..."

"My what?" Ukyo looked stunned.

"You'll get the cart back when you marry Genma's son," Akira replied, "It's

already been decided between us that when you grow up you'll marry a boy named

Ranma..."

"Ranma?" Ukyo reacted, "You're engaging me to a Horse? Dad, how could you?

Have you even seen what this boy looks like?"

"Doesn't matter," Akira replied, "All that matters is you'll have a husband

who's a strong fighter and can help you look out for things when I'm no longer

around. I'm only thinking of your future, Ucchan..."

"My future?" Ukyo raged, balling her fists as she cried, "YOU JACKASS!"

"Ucchan-!" Akira started to call out, only to see his little girl go storming

away in a cloud of anger. He started to get up only to think better of the idea

when a throbbing at his temples proved the more convincing argument. With a

sigh he resolved to drink a whole pot of coffee before he explained things to

her again in terms that he hoped she would understand better.

"Could have gone better," he sighed as he pried himself out of his bedroll...

"How could he! How could he? HOW COULD HE!?" Ukyo stormed as she fought her

way to the top of a nearby hill, then planted herself down on a rock to brood

about the cruelty of her only living parent. It was just so like her Dad to do

something like this behind her back, and to say it was for her own welfare!

Just what kind of daughter did he think she was? The tame, obedient kind who

blithely did what she was told and never complained about his decisions?

She shut her eyes against the tears she swore that she would not shed and

brooded some more. It was just so damned UNFAIR! The Yatai belonged to her, it

was for her to claim when she was old enough to take the business up from her

father. She had tried so hard to prove to him that she was worthy of his trust,

and she had made such progress lately as a chef, and Nab-chan had even

complimented her for the way that she was improving...

Nab-chan! She was in on this! Surely Genma was not smart enough to pull

something like this off without her knowledge and tacit approval! Some friend

she turned out to be! If she met Nabiki again she was going to pound that girl

senseless...

It was because Nabiki was a better fighter, more feminine, right? Yeah, that

had to be it. Her father was disappointed in her because she was a girl, but

she wasn't girl enough to impress him when a real girl with charm happened by,

so naturally Ukyo had looked bad by comparison. It wasn't her fault that she

was so un-feminine! Ukyo never had anyone to teach her what being a girl meant!

Nabiki at least had spent more time with her mother and was better able to

project her feminine whiles, but Ukyo...all she knew how to do was imitate a boy

in the hopes of attracting her father's approval!

Well then, if a boy was what her father wanted, a boy was what she would be!

Ukyo silently vowed that she would become the son her father could be proud of,

that she would never reveal her true sex to anyone, and that she would

demonstrate to her stupid old man that she could handle herself without needing

any boy to look after her. She would take over his business by proving to him

that she was more than capable of managing by herself! Her father would even

come to believe that he had a fine son that he could be proud of, and then she

would show him just how independent she was by hunting down this Saotome Ranma

and defeating him in combat, along with Nabiki and her idiot uncle!

"I'll show them!" Ukyo cried as she leaped to her feet and waved tiny fists at

the heaven, "I'll prove it to them all! You'll see how good I can be, father,

if it kills me!"

When she calmed down enough she said a silent prayer to the memory of her

mother, then clapped her hands and said goodbye to her femininity forever. From

that moment on she would be a boy in mind, body and spirit, and she would train

as hard as she could to master her family's Ryu, mixing their Shotokan in with

some basic Kempo so that Nabiki would not enjoy any advantages in their next

meeting.

She started back down the hill, grim, set and determined to practice. Let her

father's doubts be cast where they would, she would prove herself to him if it

was the last thing she did before going on to greet her ancestors...

Pur Fum stared down at the fallen girl and could hardly believe that anyone

could be so clumsy. Without thinking about it she offered Lo Xion a hand, which

the other girl accepted shyly, smiling up at Pur Fum in a way that made her feel

strangely uneasy.

"I'm sorry," Lo Xion said softly, "I'm such a clumsy cow, I can't do this right

without falling."

"You have to be more patient with yourself," said Xian Pu very softly, "This

movement requires that you relax and take things easy, move slowly and feel your

way from one motion to the next. Don't think about it at all, just let your

body glide, let your feet find their place and concentrate upon your center."

"You two are so good to me," Lo Xion said, almost crying, "I don't deserve to

have friends like you. I know that I'll never be half as good a warrior as the

other girls. They tease me all the time, you know, and Mu Tsu..."

Perfume's hands tensed upon the axes clutched in her hands, the ones she was

training with in spite of their poor balance. Looking on the hapless girl in

front of her she felt a sudden desire to punish anyone who would take advantage

of her weakness.

"You need to take it easy on yourself," Pur Fum said gruffly, wishing she had

Xian Pu's talent for soothing the girl's nerves with reassuring words, "Just be

as good a warrior as you know how to be, don't worry about being the best. Xian

Pu here is worth ten other warriors, so you can't really compare yourself to

her..."

"Or you," Lo Xion said shyly with a smile that made Pur Fum's stomach feel

funny, "You're just as good as she is, and everyone is afraid of you. They say

you'll become the next tribal enforcer..."

"But I'm not good enough to be our champion," Pur Fum wondered why Lo Xion

always affected her this way, and when she caught Xian Pu's own smile towards

their hapless friend it made her feel an unaccountable twinge of resentment.

"That doesn't matter," Lo Xion said, looking from one girl to the other, "You

two belong together as the right and left hand of our future. The Matriarch

herself has said that you're destined to be the best warriors our village has

ever produced, while I'm probably the worst warrior who has ever lived. My own

mother thinks I'm little more than a burden to our clan..."

"You mustn't let her get to you this way," Xian Pu laid a gentle hand on Lo

Xion's shoulder, only to have the girl wince sharply and recoil from the

contact. Xian Pu was as puzzled as Pur Fum by this reaction and said, "What's

wrong? Are you hurt?"

"Uh...it's nothing..." Lo Xion replied evasively, "I'm just so clumsy, I sort-of

wrenched my shoulder the other day and..."

Pur Fum's eyes widened, then with a quick step forward she seized hold of the

girl's shirt and yanked it down suddenly, turning Lo Xion around so as to expose

her backside to full view. Xian Pu gasped in astonishment, though what they saw

only confirmed Pur Fum's worst suspicions. Lo Xion had bruises all up and down

her body, ugly red and purple marks, some recent others slowly healing and quite

obviously much older.

"Who did this?" Pur Fum's own harsh voice surprised even her, but one glance at

Lo Xion's body was enough to give her sympathetic twinges of mental anguish as

her own frail nervous system could not have endured even one of those terrible

bruises.

"Whoever did this is dead," Xian Pu said simply in the manner of a blood oath.

"N-No," Lo Xion shuddered, "It wasn't her fault, it was mine! I'm such a

disappointment to her, she's really so embarrassed..."

"She...is embarrassed?" Xian Pu slowly exchanged looks with Pur Fum, and though

they were only nine seasons old they already knew the significance of those

bruises.

"Your mother did this to you?" Pur Fum asked, though it was not really a

question. Balm had made no secret of her displeasure in her own child and it

would hardly be surprising that she would express this in private. Pur Fum's

own memories of her mother as much as confirmed that it could have been her who

was now cowering before herself and Xian Pu, and in silent acknowledgement the

two friends agreed on what steps should be taken.

"We must inform great grandmother," Xian Pu said softly...

Ukyo cried out in rage as she swung an ordinary wooden bakers peel about her

head, lashing out with her anger turned against the raging sea as she stood

against the incoming tide, smashing against the waves and venting her anger.

How dare he treat her this way, she fumed, how could her father do this to her?

She had to show him that she could cook for the customers, that she was good

enough to work in his restaurant in spite of being only nine years old. Her

cooking skills were improving every day, along with her martial arts, so why

couldn't he see it, and why did nothing ever seem to please him?

A hard wave shot up as Ukyo braced her small sandaled feet against the coral

rock and met its oncoming fury. The bakers peel shot forward in her hands and

slapped the wave, backed by all the power of her arms, and the wooden handle

snapped in twain as Ukyo uttered a startled oath and was swept off her feet by

the power of the briny water.

She sputtered as she came back to the surface, then stood up as the tide pulled

out again, her feet sinking into the sand as she stared at the broken handle

that she was holding. She was almost shaking with anger and in surprise at her

upset. Obviously she was going to have to use sturdier materials if she was to

train under these conditions. She gave the wooden handle an accusing glare then

casually tossed it over her shoulder.

Her father's cry caught her attention and as she glanced back to shore she saw

him standing there looking at her with an anxious expression. Ukyo trudged back

to join him on dry land, ignoring the surf that washed about her feet until it

nearly stole one of her sandals, then she hopped the last few feet and stood

glaring resolutely up at her father.

"What are you doing, Ucchan?" her father wondered.

"I'm training, Dad," Ukyo folded her arms and pouted, "What does it look like?"

"Training?" Akira lifted an eyebrow, glancing back towards the rocky outcrop

that she had been standing upon a few moments ago.

"Against the raging seas, of course," Ukyo replied as if the matter were too

obvious to bear pointing out, "I'm trying to become a better cook and martial

artist."

"Against the sea?" Akira replied, "Isn't that kind of pointless?"

"Of course it's pointless, Dad," Ukyo huffed as she trudged on past him,

"Haven't you ever seen Samurai Movies?"

She half expected to be cuffed for the rudeness of that remark, but instead her

father said, "Perhaps it would help if you had better materials for training."

"What?" Ukyo halted in mid-stride and turned a questioning look towards her

father.

"Come with me," he indicated, and soon they arrived back at the restaurant,

which was closed for the holiday. Akira led his daughter to the back of the

shop then opened the store room and went inside for a moment. He emerged a

minute later holding up an object for Ukyo's immediate inspection.

Ukyo gasped as her small hands closed upon the haft of a heavy iron Baker's

peel, her family heirloom, which she thought had been lost along with the yatai.

How her father had come upon it she did not know, but Ukyo handled the thing,

feeling its weight and slowly smiling as she felt its great age and long history

in her grasp. There was much tradition in this simple implement of cooking,

which had been with the Kuonjis as far back as anyone could remember.

"It's yours to train with, Ucchan," her father said simply, "A weapon that will

not snap or fail you when you need it. Treat it well, treat it with respect,

but above all use it only in a just cause. Some days it may be your only

friend."

"Thank you, father," Ukyo smiled, then moved out into a clear space to begin

practicing with the weapon. For a nine-year-old she handled it pretty well, and

Akira only smiled. If he couldn't outright say how he felt about Ukyo and her

intense dedication to her studies he could at least demonstrate it in little

ways. Besides, watching her use the peel as she was reminded him very much of

her mother, who was also lithe and skilled in her own way. His late wife would

have been proud of their daughter's progress, and as he thought this he felt a

tell-tale twinge in his side that had been occurring more and more of late, a

sure sign of his own mortality as he sought for ways of preparing Ukyo for her

future...

Kho Lon's sigh contained much sadness as she confronted her fellow elder. For

once Lo Xion the Lore Master did not have her smug, confident air of all-knowing

sagaciousness about her. No one could feel proud having to face up to something

of this serious a nature.

"It is my fault," Lo Xion the Elder said softly, "My granddaughter has been out

of control for some time and it was my place to see it. Silk warned me that

Balm was losing patience with the child, but I never thought she would react

with such severity..."

"No," Kho Lon said just as sadly, "We never see it when it's in our own midst,

only when others point it out to us, in this case by my great granddaughters. I

have examined the child for myself and can only conclude that affairs have gone

beyond intolerable. For her own sake your great granddaughter must be removed

from her mother's house and fostered elsewhere."

"You know I don't have a problem with that," Lo Xion said soberly, "But Balm

will be another matter. She will not take kindly to the implied criticism in

her parental skills, one reason that I have been reluctant to intervene in the

past. It is, as you say, beyond intolerable and so for her own sake as well as

my namesake I must now intervene and place her with my other Granddaughter.

Silk adores the child and considers her very quick witted and talented, if not

warrior material, or even quite suited to the craft of Lore Mastery."

"You have an alternative suggestion for her training?" Kho Lon asked.

"It is my belief that she could make an excellent Healer," Lo Xion replied, "She

has the touch and the patience, and given time to recover from her injuries she

may be able to achieve the mental focus that will be required to follow in your

Granddaughter's footsteps. I would apprentice her now, but Comb is very busy

tending to not just our village but others..."

"Quite so," Kho Lon agreed, "Silk would have more patience for the child anyway

and she could learn many useful domestic skills. As our granddaughters are

already good friends it would serve our interests to allow Comb to train her

when she is in the village and at other times leave her in Silk's care. A fine

resolution to this problem...the only question is what shall be done about Balm?

She needs to be counseled to overcome this problem that she has developed..."

"That, too, is something that I must attend to, Matriarch," Lo Xion replied, "I

will see to it that Balm is redeemed back into our society, provided word of

this unfortunate matter does not gain wider circulation. I trust that I may

rely upon the discretion of your two wards?"

"Xian Pu and Pur Fum will remain silent if I instruct them to do so," Kho Lon

said gravely, then a frown creased her brow as she added, "They are both

enormously fond of your great granddaughter. It was because they were trying to

privately school her in the warrior arts that they were able to uncover

this...unfortunate situation."

The Lore Master gave her Matriarch a sly look and said, "Don't tell me you

disapprove of their interest? They are young, Kho Lon, and innocent of heart.

Surely you don't mean to tell me that if something were to occur between them in

a few years it would offend your sensibilities?"

"I do not wish my heirs to be distracted in their training," Kho Lon said

gruffly, "When the time is right and they are ready to assume their positions in

our tribe of Champion and Enforcer, then they may dilly dally and think of

romantic notions of that nature, though it is just as likely that they shall

both have husbands. Until then it is unthinkable that they should invest any of

their time in arts other than those that they will need to defend the interests

of our people..."

"And if those interests do not include love and affection, then what good are

warrior arts?" Lo Xion countered, "There will come a time when you must relax

and allow them to get on with their lives, Matriarch, to do otherwise would

jeopardize the very thing you are seeking to accomplish."

"Perhaps," Kho Lon replied, "Just the same I would rather that the child were

not so close to my great granddaughters. There will be trouble over this, mark

me well, and if it were possible at this time then I would send her away to be

trained in another village."

"The Matriarch will forgive me for saying that you are sounding unusually

paranoid this evening?" Lo Xion tried to make her jab sound teasing but a

curious prickling sensation warned her that Kho Lon's words were not to be

dismissed so lightly...

Ukyo smiled to the customer as she served another okonomiyaki, easily flipping

it onto his plate before beginning two others. That customer and the others all

reacted with approving surprise as her hands dexterously worked her spatulas

over the grill, churning out another masterpiece with a speed that simply defied

description.

Her father nodded with tacit approval as he watched his Ukyo charm the customers

with a friendly disposition that she seldom demonstrated in private. Ukyo was

turning into a real crowd pleaser, and at the age of twelve she had already

surpassed anything that he might have to teach her. The day was rapidly

arriving when he could turn over the running of the restaurant to her care.

Their first Okonomiyaki shop had proven so successful that it had expanded into

two others, and now Akira had a chain of stores working under the company logo

of Kuonji's. Business had been very good and Akira no longer had to struggle

with money just to make the mortgage payments.

He put a hand to his chest and winced, hoping Ukyo would not notice, but her

attention was on the customers so she failed to perceive the way his face was

contorted with barely restrained agony, his complexion unusually pale as he

fought his way through the by-now familiar spasms.

The Doctors had given him another five years, possibly more than that, just

enough time to maybe see his little girl graduate High School and barely enough

time to teach her everything he had learned about managing a business. He hoped

that he would live long enough to retire into that temple he had always dreamed

of joining when he was younger. He could have savored the life of a monk, away

from the stresses of daily living, if only he had not met Ukyo's blessed

mother...

Ukyo happened to look up just then, so Akira bravely smiled at her and nodded

back as if to say through gesture the words he found difficult to utter. He

wanted her to know how proud he was of what she had already accomplished. She

was more than the son he had wanted, much more than he had dared hope for in a

daughter...

Akira frowned as Ukyo looked away. His daughter. For a time he had all but

forgotten her true gender, having grown used to Ukyo's preferred imposture of a

boy her own age, the way she tried to act more like a son, to make it easy on

him as he fought to raise her properly. Ukyo was now as much a boy as if she

were born one, and hardly anyone suspected the truth even after a close

inspection.

But it wasn't right. Akira had never intended to make his daughter renounce her

own gender. It was his pride as much as his incapacity as a parent that had

encouraged her to behave like this. Ukyo must have thought he wanted a son so

much that she would become one in all but the biological sense. She really was

a quite amazing person, but it was wrong to deny her womanhood. Soon enough she

would be a woman and would have to adjust to that fact and all that it entailed.

Kuonji's frown became internal. He would have to make it up to her in some way.

Ukyo should marry and have children, to raise a family of her own so that a part

of Akira would live on in his grandkids. Ukyo needed to be reminded of her true

sex, and the only way that he could think of doing this was to remind her of her

looming engagement.

He had detectives seeking out the Saotomes. So far Genma had eluded his notice,

though he had traced down the location of the yatai without informing Ukyo of

this fact. He had a lead on a family known as the Tendos that had a Saotome

Ranma living there with his mother, Nodoka, but so far Genma travels from one

end of Japan to the other and so the errant thief himself had not yet been

isolated.

Time was fast approaching when a reckoning would be made, but Akira knew it

would not be up to him to claim the prize in all of this. The challenge

belonged to Ukyo alone to find and confront Genma and his son and press her

claims to the marriage arrangement. Unfortunately Ukyo had pledged that she

would as soon brain the boy as marry him when they met, so Akira decided to be a

little more patient and hope nature would win her over her own pride. If not

then the family of Kuonji would perish without issue and Akira would have to

confront the judgement of his ancestors when his time came to join them...an

appointment that could not be delayed forever...

Ukyo saw her father's smile and felt it warm her insides as she handled the

crowd and managed the counter, collecting their money and tips while being

careful to the last yen piece. His smile meant more to her than all the praise

he never gave her, it meant he was at last recognizing her proficiency and might

someday entrust her with greater responsibility. It was a singular

accomplishment, and it merely came at the cost of her feminine gender.

The wrap she was wearing to bind her budding breasts was more than slightly

constricting, but Ukyo had grown accustomed to the hugging sensation. She was

training every day to become more proficient with her weapons and she was

already good enough to beat her father in practice. Over the counter hung the

ancient Iron Bakers Peel that was her weapon of choice. It was heavy in her

hands but she was more than strong enough to manage it now and could employ it

like a broad ax.

She had trained every day since that terrible moment when her innocence had been

taken from her six years before. Ukyo was growing more proficient every day,

and part of the secret behind her focus was that she always imagined Saotome

Genma standing square in her sights. She fanticized about beating him

senseless, of making him pay for humiliating her, for stealing her livelihood,

her...dowry, or so her father kept insisting.

Her father may have engaged her to a boy-and of late he had been reminding her

of this a little too much-but she was her own woman...even if she did pretend

to be a boy, dressing like one and acting the part as well. She would not be

dictated to or have her life be decided by men. She enrolling in a Middle

school next semester and would carry on her pretense, but mainly because a boy

was granted more liberties and accorded more respect. She was one of the gang

whenever other boys were gathered together, and girls were the implacable enemy.

What did she need other girls for anyway? They were mostly gossipy, tittering,

fashion crazed ninnies, as much a mystery to her as to the boys she palled

around with.

Of course, try as she might, Ukyo had not totally escaped the significance of

being female, especially when she had started to bleed one evening, which gave

her a panic as she was reminded of her father coughing up blood that one night,

and the time he spent with the Doctors getting better. Her physician had

explained the meaning of her bleeding, which both alarmed and relieved her and

had forced her to begin wearing absorbent padding.

If only there were some way to become a boy completely, Ukyo mused, but that

was, of course, a silly notion. She did not really want to be a boy that badly,

even if sometimes the thought of waving a magic wand and changing sex was more

than a little appealing. She did not believe in miracles anyway, so why

fanticize over what could never be? She had a restaurant to manage, and a

father who depended on her to do everything just right, so what was the use of

daydreaming anyway? She could handle things as well as any boy, and that was

all that was really important...

Pur Fum concentrated on the target that was in front of her, then with a flick

of her wrists she sent her twin axes hurtling forward to strike the target and

annihilate it. Her axes continued on well past the exploded target that had

formerly been a clay urn, arcing about in twin boomerang curves that brought

them eventually back her way so that she could pluck them out of the air as

easily as she had thrown them.

Pur Fum slipped her axes through the twin slots in the harness that she wore

about her body then regarded her accomplishment, replaying every aspect in her

mind to insure that her performance had been flawless. Kho Lon would accept

nothing less than perfection in her students, and Pu Fum had practiced too long

and hard to get the technique just right, so the only result that would be

permitted her was perfection.

Satisfied that she had done as well as could be expected she started to turn

away when she heard a pair of voices advancing towards the clearing...Xian Pu

and Lo Xion if she gauged correctly. Without hardly a sound Pur Fum faded away

into the bushes, taking shelter as she watched the pair proceed into the

clearing, chattering softly in meaningless conversation that seemed very round

about to her ears and was quite obviously dodging the thing of greatest

interest.

"I don't see why you're not happy," Xian Pu was saying as the two girls came

into full view, "Great Grandmother says that my mother is proud of the progress

that you are making. She says that you will make a fine healer in a few more

years, and surely that is an honorable accomplishment..."

"Oh yes," Lo Xion said anxiously, her body language even more shy than was usual

in the blue haired girl, by Pur Fum's estimation, "Your mother is a wonderful

teacher, very patient with me, and very knowledgeable about healing. It's

just..."

"Yes?" Xian Pu asked.

"Why do you never speak to her yourself?" Lo Xion asked, then tensed as if

expecting her companion to get angry. When no response came from the purple

haired warrior, she said, "Forgive me for asking, but I've noticed that you

always seem tense whenever your mother's name comes up. Is there some kind of

problem between you?"

"No," Xian Pu replied a bit hastily, then added, "Mother and I...we don't see

each other very much. She is always so busy...always going to help people in

other villages. Sometimes I wonder if she even knows that I exist..." she

paused a moment, then said, "I suppose that is silly, but mother always seems so

sad when I am around. I can never get Great Grandmother to tell me why..."

"I'm sure she's proud of you, Xian Pu," Lo Xion assured her, "Everyone knows

that you are the best warrior of our generation, and soon you will be old enough

to compete with the adults. A year or two from now you'll be the champion of

our village..."

"More than that, I'm afraid," Xian Pu said soberly, "Great Grandmother thinks I

still have a ways to go before I reach my full potential. I'm thirteen seasons

old, Lo Xion, there is still time for me to train and become more ready..."

"You are ready right now," Lo Xion said, "You and Pur Fum are as good as any of

the adults, except for the Elders. I believe in you anyway, and I think you're

very special."

"Lo Xion..." Xian Pu began to say when the other girl stopped her with a finger.

"Xian Pu," she murmured softly, looking down before raising her eyes as if to

gather her courage, "We've been friends for many years, you, me and Pur Fum. I

want to know...do you like me?"

"Like you?" Xian Pu sounded puzzled, "Of course I like you...you're my

friend..."

"No," Lo Xion seemed to be struggling for the words, "Not just like me...do you

really care about me...as someone special? Because I care for you as someone

special...I...I want to know first how you feel..."

"How I feel...about what?" Xian Pu said in growing confusion.

Lo Xion's answer was non-verbal. She leaned forward and brought her mouth up to

Xian Pu's own lips before the taller girl had time to react, and then their

faces merged together for a long, lingering moment while Lo Xion slipped her

arms around Xian Pu's waist and held her closely.

From where she stood watching the whole affair Pur Fum felt her mouth go dry and

her body turn rigid. Her fists clenched on empty air while her eyes got round

and her pupils dilated. She stood that way until her two friends finally broke

contact and stood gasping in mutual surprise. Xian Pu looked stunned while Lo

Xion, overcome by her own boldness, ducked her head and ran off, her face a

scarlet crimson..

Xian Pu stood where she was for a very long time, staring at nothing until she

finally placed a hand up to her lips and touched them with a finger, then turned

to glance in the direction where Lo Xion had vanished.

And somewhere farther beyond the edge of the clearing Kho Lon watched it all and

gently heaved a sigh that even Pur Fum's sharp ears could not have perceived.

She had been afraid of this from the very beginning, and now that it was finally

upon them she did not know what to do to rectify matters. As she gauged the

situation she knew that her wards were heading for an eminent conflict, and if

she did not take steps to intervene in time then it was very likely that one of

them might not survive it...

Juban/Crossroads Middle School. Ukyo read the bronze placard outside of the

school building and squared her shoulders as she prepared to go into "The Act"

once again. This one was coeducational, not single sex like the Boy school she

had attended last time, so she would have to get used to fooling both genders

and not just take advantage of the tendency of boys to take appearances for

granted. Girls tended to be a little more on the ball when it came to picking

up on certain traces, so her disguise would take more concentration to get

right. It would take a while before she was able to adopt the right pattern of

behavior so that her act would once again become second nature as far as it

concerned her fellow students.

The teachers would be easier to fool, of course. They hardly ever looked beyond

the official records that listed her a boy on attendance sheets, and as long as

Ukyo stuck to the program they would not be inclined to question her too

closely. Her only problem would be the PE coach, who might not accept her

excuse of a rare skin disorder that required her to dress and shower separately

from the other students...

"Out of the way, I'm late!" a voice called out one second before Ukyo's battle

reflexes warned her of an oncoming collision. She barely had time to twist her

body to one side before a blonde streak bowled her over, the tri-colored uniform

forming a blur before her eyes as Ukyo staggered and fell down, catching herself

at the last second with a handspring that righted her on her feet an instant

later.

"Are you all right?" a voice called out to her, and Ukyo turned around, only to

find her gaze going up a bit higher than expected. She blinked her eyes as she

found a brown haired girl with bright green eyes and a non-regulation school

outfit looking down at her with concern, to which Ukyo could only frame the

coherent reply, "Nani?"

"Sorry about that," the stranger said, "That Usagi never watches where she's

going when she's in a hurry. My name's Kino Makoto, though some people call me

Lita. And you are?"

"Kuonji," Ukyo recovered herself, remembering to rough up her voice a little,

"Kuonji Ukyo, Freshman class B..."

"Nice to meet you, Kuonji-san," Makoto smiled at her, "I haven't seen you around

here before, are you new to Crossroads?"

"It's my first day," Ukyo replied, "Are you a student here? Your uniform..."

"Oh that?" Makoto sniffed, glancing down at herself, "It's from my last school

the previous semester. They don't have any uniforms here that are quite my

size, I'm afraid. Say, would you like to have somebody show you around this

place? I know how hard it is to find your way on the first day..."

"Um...won't you be late to your first class?" Ukyo asked her.

"Oh, it's not a problem," Makoto assured her, "Unlike Serena I don't mind a

little detention. It gives me time to do more homework so I've got more time to

party after class. Besides, you don't want to be late to your first class, do

you?"

"I guess not," Ukyo smiled, "Thanks. I'll owe you one for this."

"I'm just glad to help," Makoto replied with a dreamy expression, thinking

quietly to herself, [He looks just like my old boyfriend...!]

"What's wrong?" Xian Pu asked Pur Fum as the two began their daily sparring

match.

"Nothing's wrong," Pur Fum snapped, striking with her axes against the twin

bonbori spheres wielded by her opponent.

Xian Pu sighed, hardly fooled by her friend's tone as she replied, "I've done

something that upsets you, I know that look..."

"You're imagining things," Pur Fum said flatly, "Defend yourself! Your defenses

are pathetic!"

"My defenses are just fine," Xian Pu said firmly and to prove her point she

fended off another series of rapid attacks from her well-coordinated opponent,

"It's you who looks angry. What have I supposedly done to piss you off this

time?"

Pur Fum paused to size up her sparring partner, breathing in and out the way she

had been taught, opening her mind to the flow of the energy in the air all

around them to keep her Chi Levels at maximum, then softly she said, "I think

you should stay away from Ambergris. That one is nothing but trouble."

"Am Bur?" Xian Pu blinked, "Why? What has she done to you?"

"Nothing," Pur Fum said as she launched another attack that pressed Xian Pu hard

until the purple haired girl could mount an effective counter attack, then Pur

Fum vaulted out of the way and said, "She just came to me the other day and

offered to spar with me. Naturally I beat her."

Xian Pu blinked, "So? Why does that bother you?"

"It was the way I beat her that concerns me," Pur Fum said while not relaxing

her posture, "She was not really trying very hard. I got the impression that

she was more intent on studying my attack style and was merely testing my

defenses."

"So she plans to challenge you again?" Xian Pu asked as she balanced on one

foot, "Why should that put a burr under your halter?"

"It's not me she intends to challenge," Pur Fum replied, "It's you she's

interested in. After all, you're ranked as the best warrior in our age class."

"You're being paranoid again," Xian Pu launched her attack, coming in at Pur Fum

with bonbori spheres ready to meet the counter of Pur Fum's axes. It was a full

minute later before they stood away again and Xian Pu could continue her

thought, "Am Bur and I are just friends, that's all. You don't mind me having

another friend, do you? After all, there's you and Lo Xion..."

Pur Fum snarled and threw herself into another attack that had all the savage

fury of a wild beast behind it, driving Xian Pu back to the edge of the clearing

before the latter managed to rally her defenses enough to mount a counter-attack

to drive Pur Fum back a few paces.

"What in the name of the Gods?" Xian Pu blinked as she breathed heavily, "What

brought that on all of a sudden?"

"Nothing!" Pur Fum snapped, "You're getting careless and sloppy! If Great

Grandmother saw you just now she'd have the both of us running laps from here to

Jusenkyo!"

"I don't understand," Xian Pu scowled, "Why don't you like Am Bur?"

"Because she's a cunning, conniving, self-important pretender, that's why!" Pur

Fum growled, "I did some checking around and it seems that she has a habit of

sizing up her opponents by pretending friendship towards them then learning all

she can about their fighting methods. She uses this knowledge to defeat them in

challenge matches. Mark me well she'll be coming after you one day. She

doesn't know how to have friends, let alone be one, and if you leave your back

unguarded around her she'll waste no time checking for places to put her

dagger."

"She's not like that," Xian Pu said somewhat defensively.

"Oh, she is," Pur Fum almost bitterly laughed at the other girl's naivete,

"Trust me on this, you would be better off placing your faith in a member of the

Musk Clan then trusting yourself around Whale Puke."

Xian Pu blinked and said, "Since when have you resorted to name-calling..."

"Xian Pu!"

Pur Fum tensed as Xian Pu turned around in time to see Lo Xion come rushing up

to embrace her, completely ignoring the fact that a serious training match was

in session. Xian Pu naturally let go of her bonbori and returned the other

girl's embrace as Lo Xion kissed her with enthusiasm, a kiss that Xian Pu

naturally returned with equal passion.

Pur Fum turned away, her face clenched tightly with emotions that she did not

want to divulge in front of the others. She looked away feeling a raw tightness

in her throat as her eyes felt sore around the edges, a sure sign that she had

to walk away from there before she betrayed herself in front of the two girls

who were hardly paying her any notice.

In the beginning their displays of affection had consisted mostly of light

kisses, little gestures and the harmless exploration of each other's bodies, but

of late Xian Pu and Lo Xion had been growing more and more daring, their private

trysts no longer even a secret among their own age group. It was not that

uncommon for two girls to form deep attachments during training, but the way

these two carried on was enough to be a scandal. They had become more

experimental in their intimate moments together, discovering levels of mutual

affection that even adults would have found shocking.

Pur Fum knew all about it, of course, having tortured herself by spying on the

two young lovers on more occasions than she cared to remember. At first she had

told herself that it was simple curiosity, and to make certain that the two were

not attacked while their minds were on other business, but lately it had been

harder and harder to escape the admission of her jealousy. Pur Fum was like

someone with a fever, longing to join the pair in their fun and games, feeling

like an outsider and basically too shy to make any advances. These two were her

friends, the only friends she had in all the world, so it should not have

bothered her to much that they were intimate together, but...

But Pur Fum wanted more than to be an outsider, and that was why she had become

so angry at Xian Pu when the latter had mentioned Lo Xion's name during their

practice together. It was all that she could to restrain herself from

deliberately inflicting an injury on Xian Pu's person. Everything always came

too easily for Xian Pu! She had the admiration of the elders, the respect of

their peers, while Pur Fum had none of that, was the outcast thrown out of her

own clan, the weak girl that no one had wanted...

Pur Fum stared down at one of her clenched fists, forcing that hand to unclench

as she dropped the ax that she had been holding and gazed at the palm, so smooth

and hard with heavy calluses. It had taken a long time to condition her body to

tolerate the discomforts that came with rigorous training, but still she lacked

the common ability to block out actual pain. She turned the hand around to

study it, then took note of the fact that her fingernails had grown long again

and would need trimming.

On impulse she turned the hand around and stared at the palm again, then slowly

closed her fist, deliberately pressing her nails against the skin and

squeezing...

The pain that shot up her arm was enough to make Pur Fum gasp and almost double

over, her whole arm going numb with shock as she hastily unclenched the hand,

seeing the welts of blood well up as she clenched her wrist with her other hand,

trying to use the pain to focus her mind as she slowly adjusted to the screams

of her nervous system.

She closed her eyes and shed the tears she did not dare to show before others.

The pain was a familiar enemy, one she could neither defeat nor entirely banish.

It was more than she could endure to think of the sort of pain that Lo Xion had

withstood when she had still been at the mercy of her mother. Now that the girl

was in training to be a Healer she no longer had to put up with the sort of

ridicule that had been the bane of her existence. Lo Xion had slowly blossomed

into a happy, outgoing spirit very free in her expressions and always kindly

disposed to Pur Fum, but when she was with Xian Pu...

Pur Fum straightened out, staring off into the forest as the tears flowed freely

now while she conjured the image of Lo Xion in her mind, seeing her smile and

the dazzling sparkle of her eyes and wishing more than any words could convey

that those eyes would be turned in Pur Fum's direction with the same passionate

ardor. Pur Fum could not describe even to herself the feelings evoked in her

whenever she saw Lo Xion and Xian Pu together. It was like being possessed by a

demon of rage, lust and indescribable longing. She wondered if she might indeed

be under the spell of a forest spirit and briefly considered seeking out Lo

Xion's abrasive cousin, Ka Chu, to receive an exorcism...

Pur Fum tensed, hearing the slight snap of a leaf as she cocked her head to one

side and forced her tone to be gruff, "What do you want now, Mu Tsu?"

"Per Fum?" he gasped, "What's wrong, are you crying?"

"Don't be stupid," Pur Fum sniffed, "I just got clumsy and cut myself, it's not

that big a deal..."

"You cut yourself?" the boy approached her, "Let me see..."

"Go away!" Pur Fum turned her back to him as he sought to circle around her, "I

don't need you here, Mu Tsu. Go back to the village."

"But I want to help," Mu Tsu insisted, "Why won't you let me help you, Pur Fum?

You know I love you and I only want to protect you..."

"Protect me?" Pur Fum said incredulously as she slowly turned around to confront

him, "You must be joking! How can you protect me? Are you a god? Can you wave

a hand and make me like other girls, able to withstand pain? You know one

scratch is enough to disable me! How can you stand there offering to help when

you don't even know what it is I really want? Not that you'd ever listen if I

told you..."

"I know you're angry at Xian Pu for some reason," Mu Tsu replied, "She's been

ignoring you a lot since she met Ambergris. It must be hard if the only time

you see her is in training...hey! That's it! You can train with me, Pur Fum!

I'd love to practice with you..."

Pur Fum made a strangling noise before glaring at him, "Do you think I'm that

stupid? You just want a chance to beat me and become my husband! You think

I'll lower my guard during practice and you can get a lucky strike in then run

to the Elders and proclaim that I have to marry you! Well nothing doing!"

"Pur Fum?" Mu Tsu gasped without comprehending the cause of her anger.

Pur Fum sighed. She was so tired of yelling at Mu Tsu, and it never did any

good anyway, he just would not listen. She had tried reasoning with him,

pleading, yelling, even calling him cruel names. She had even sometimes tried

being nice to him to get him to lower his guard so that he might actually

listen, but none of it had any effect on his impervious ego. Mu Tsu was

determined to wear her down by his persistence, and while there had been

occasions when he had made himself useful, it was beginning to cause her to

strain just to hold back her temper.

"Mu Tsu," she tried more calmly, "You have to forget about me, find someone else

who can be your wife. I know that there are other girls who would find you much

more interesting, but if you keep chasing after me you're just going to get

hurt, and I don't want that on my conscience."

"I'll never give up on you, Pu Fum," Mu Tsu swore, "One day you'll see that I'm

the man for you and then you'll be happy that I never gave up."

"You're not listening!" Pure Fum threw her hands up in exasperation, "Do you

think I'm going to suddenly decide that I love you because you chase me around

and keep other boys from spending any time around me, that you practically have

staked me out as your personal property and won't let anyone get too close

without you challenging them! You may be the best male warrior of our tribe but

that doesn't mean you're the best man from where I'm standing."

"Then I'll just have to make myself a better man for your sake," Mu Tsu

insisted, "You'll see that I am the best one day, I swear it..."

Pur Fum turned away and started walking back to wards the village, pausing to

pick up her axes and slip them into their special place of concealment beneath

the sleeves of her shirt. Yelling at Mu Tsu was getting her no where, and she

was suddenly suffering a very bad headache and would need to seek out one of her

adopted Elder's special medicines. She heard Mu Tsu fall into step beside her

and resolved to permit it, though the temptation to lash out at him was

overwhelming...

Ukyo surveyed her homeroom as the teacher called out her name. Having already

prepared for the moment in advance with a portable grill she had installed at

the teacher's permission she began whipping out her spatulas and batter and

proceeded to whip up a set of fresh okonomiyaki samples that she expertly aimed

to land on paper plates that deposited themselves like magic on the desks of

every student.

"Ukyo's the name," she said, using her practiced line for the business,

"Okonomiyaki is the game. Try it, you'll like it, compliments of Kuonji

enterprises."

One student tensed as she heard that name, looking up from her desk with a

puzzled expression. She picked up the okonomiyaki and bit into it, confirmation

from her senses briefly overwhelming any doubt. She smiled to herself and

softly murmured, "Ucchan."

Ukyo was troubled by a sense of familiarity. She caught one girl looking at her

and frowned, her expression briefly puzzled before her eyes went wide with

recognition. She recovered a few seconds later while other girls in the class

turned annoyed glances in the direction of that particular female student. The

moment was brief, of course, as the teacher then called the class to attention

and began referring to their lessons, but while Ukyo found a seat near the front

row she could not help glancing back at the cocky smile that was all too

familiar.

As soon as class was called to lunch recess she and the other girl sought each

other out, and then Ukyo glared at this familiar-looking girl and said, "Well,

well...Tendo Nabiki, as I live and breathe."

"Ucchan," Nabiki smiled without guile, "Nice to see you again. Still pretending

to be a boy?"

"Yeah," Ukyo said slowly, "And how about you...still following that bald fat

man?"

Continued in part 2.

Comments/Criticism/Continual relief for Tendonitis: shadowmane

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction

webpage at: ~ All related chapters

of this series can be found there along with my other works.


	2. Chapter 2

Nabiki 1/2 Chapter 3 Part 2

The Perfume Files

By

Jim Robert Bader

"Oh yes," Nabiki rolled her eyes, "The training mission isn't over yet. We

don't spend a lot of time in any one place, but lately I've been insisting on

keeping up with my studies."

Ukyo's smile carried something more than friendly warmth as she started to reach

up for her giant spatula when three other students approached their desk, all

smiling at Nabiki.

"Hey, Nabiki," said one of this trio, a slender redhead with long braided hair

that extended down her back in a pig-tail, "You know this stud?"

"Sure do, Keiko-chan," Nabiki replied, "Meet Kuonji Ukyo, Kansai chef

extraordinaire and somebody I met several years ago when I was just starting out

on my training. Ukyo, meet my friends, Arigami Keiko, Hibiki Ryoga and Kurusawa

Sakura."

"Charmed," Ukyo said with a nod in their direction, a nod returned by the other

students, who each seemed to stand out in some way from most of the rest of

their contemporaries.

The redhead had a brazen, tomboyish look about her that belied her schoolgirl

uniform, her blue eyes implying a mischievous streak a mile long, if not longer.

The chocolate brown haired Sakura also wore a regulation school dress but her

hair was wildly uncombed and spiky, belying her otherwise normal appearance.

Ryoga wore a boy's school uniform, just like Ukyo herself, and while he appeared

normal enough on the outside Ukyo could not help noticing that when he smiled he

showed off a wicked pair of canines that gave him a more bestial appearance.

Once introductions were concluded, Nabiki stood to her feet and invited Ukyo to

tag along as she and her friends as they went to their lockers to stash their

textbooks while fetching their bento lunch boxes. As they walked the corridor

together Ukyo was trying to make sense of Nabiki's odd behavior. Her once-

friend was not acting like someone with a guilty conscience, after all, so in

passing Ukyo brought up the subject of the yatai just to gauge the other girl's

reactions.

To her surprise she heard Nabiki heave an exasperated sigh and said, "Oh...that.

Let me guess, Uncle stole that cart. He told me your father gave it to him, but

I never did believe it."

"You didn't?" Ukyo said in surprise.

"He showed me that marker that we won back from the Gambler King," Nabiki said,

"Even had your father's signature and everything, though at the time I thought

it looked awfully blurred, which still made it too good for Uncle Genma to

forge. Probably got your father drunk when he signed it."

"Oh," Ukyo replied, realizing that it was a probable explanation...

"Nab-chan," Ryoga spoke up, "Your Uncle stole a yatai that belonged to Kuonji-

san's father? That's dishonorable..."

"Sounds like your Uncle, though," Keiko remarked, "No offense to you, Nab-chan,

but Genma's hardly the most honorable guy who ever drew breath."

"You're telling me?" Nabiki groaned, "Pops is always getting both of us into one

kind of trouble or the other. It's not his fault that he's so pathologically

stupid."

"Not to mention has the moral fiber of a squirrel," Sakura snorted, "Which still

puts him on a level above my old man. I don't know why you put up with him,

though, Nab-chan. You say you have family living in Nerima, why not go live

with them instead of having to put up with the old man's antics?"

"Uncle has an agreement with my father," Nabiki said, "So until he says that I'm

ready to return home I have to keep training with Pops and learn everything I

can about the martial arts. It's got something to do with family pride and all

that...besides, at least I know how to manipulate my Uncle. My dad...well, ever

since Mom died I understand that he's just gone all to pieces..."

"Your mother is dead?" Ukyo said in surprise.

"Five years ago," Nabiki said tightly, "Not too long after we parted company.

Ovarian Cancer. I got to attend her funeral and...well...I just haven't felt

the need to go back home since then..."

"I'm sorry," Ukyo murmured faintly, then added, "I hardly even remember my

mother..."

"Hey, are we gonna get all maudlin about this?" Keiko spoke up, "This should be

a happy reunion, you and your old buddy, the stud muffin..."

"The what?" Ukyo blinked.

Keiko flashed a grin, her blue eyes showing mischievous intent as she replied,

"C'mon, Nab-chan never said she had such a handsome guy for her old buddy. Bet

you'll be the talk around the school campus with half the student body eager to

date you."

"Uh..." Ukyo remarked, "Well..."

"Kei-chan's right," grinned Sakura, "That's all most girls seem to do around

here is moon about their boyfriends. Bet you'll have lots of 'em lining up

around the block to get the inside word on you, cute stuff. You might even

become as popular here as Ryoga-kun."

"I-what?" Ryoga halted in mid-step, only to be dragged back into motion by the

redhead and Sakura.

"Now that you mention it," Nabiki smiled, "Having so many of our fellow students

interested in learning about you could be very advantageous...very profitable

even, if we play our cards just right."

"Oh, uh...yeah?" Ukyo said nervously, only to react when she heard her name

called out. She turned to see the tall girl she had met before waving to her

with a very friendly smile, to which Ukyo reluctantly waved back as they passed

each other in the hallway, "Oh, Hi Makoto."

The others in her group all halted to look at her, then Sakura broke the silence

by saying, "You're friends with Kino Makoto?"

"Uh...we just met," Ukyo said, "Why? Is there something wrong...?"

"Oh no," Nabiki assured her, "Nothing wrong about that, it's just...very odd,

that's all."

"Makoto is pretty exclusive about who her friends are," Keiko explained, "She's

a transfer student who got kicked out of her last school for fighting in the

hallways. She's Captain of our school Karate Club, got the job by beating up

all the other students, both male and female."

"Really?" Ukyo marveled, "Why aren't you Captain, Nabiki-chan?"

"I really don't have the time for that many extracurricular affairs," Nabiki

replied, "My interests are primarily in business, and besides, I'm studying

Kempo, not Karate. Structured combat systems are of very little use to the

Anything Goes school of fighting."

"And I'm into Kickboxing myself," said Keiko, "While Ryo-chan here mostly trains

with his mother..."

"When he can find his way home," Sakura smiled, "Usually we have to walk him."

"Hey!" Ryoga protested, "I'm not that bad!"

"Says the guy who can't tell a closet from our home room," Keiko sniffed, "But

we like you anyway, Ryo-chan, even if you are sometimes clueless."

"I'm also on the Karate club and I've fought with Makoto," Sakura remarked,

"She's pretty good, but one of these days I'm going to be a whole lot better.

I'm studying to be just like my idol Ryu-chan. Of course Nabiki's the best

fighter in our school, she just won't do it unless there's money involved..."

"I'm entitled to some compensation after all," Nabiki insisted, "My time is very

valuable."

"Ah," Ukyo decided that she had allowed herself to be led off the subject long

enough and deliberately steered the conversation back to her own personal

interests, "About the Yatai...do you still have it?"

"Nope," Nabiki replied, "We sold it a long time ago, but I can tell you where

that was if you want me to help find it for you. I really am sorry about what

we did back then, Ucchan. I never intended to cause you any trouble, and I

think in his own way Pops was just being thoughtless and never really intended

you any harm."

"I see," Ukyo mused, "So it really was the old man's fault after all. That's

very...interesting," and in that moment Ukyo decided that her earlier anger had

been misdirected and that she should bide her time until she had the chance to

strike at Saotome Genma, the true miscreant behind her suffering. No need to

make Nabiki a target after all, so she began to relax a little and went into his

boy act, intending to provide a convincing distraction until she knew the

situation a whole lot better...

"Pur Fum-wait up!"

Pur Fum hardly acknowledged Xian Pu's shout, her eyes intent on the trail ahead

of her and nothing else as she the stalked the trail in search of her quarry.

Xian Pu did not make matters easy since she was stomping like a bull elephant in

heat with a voice loud enough to be heard in three counties.

"Pur Fum," Xian Pu finally lost all patience with her friend and threw herself

directly into the other girl's path then said, "Why weren't you at the

tournament today? I took first prize in our age group..."

"Good for you," Pur Fum said, trying to go around the purple haired girl but

without much success as Xian Pu moved to counter her attempts, "Get out of my

way! I'm stalking a snow leopard who has been preying on our flocks and I

really don't have time to deal with your nonsense..."

"Would you please tell me why you're so angry with me?" Xian Pu asked, "I wanted

to say that you were right about Am Bur. She challenged me after defeating all

of her other opponents and she tried to use things that she learned from our

sparring matches..."

"Good," Pur Fum snorted, "Maybe next time you'll listen when I give you a

warning."

"Is that what has you so upset?" Xian Pu asked, "I know I should have paid more

attention to your warnings, but I never expected her to betray me like that. I

just kept staring at her while she was trying to defeat me with that Naginata of

hers, and I wouldn't back down, and I think I must have rattled her because she

didn't fight as well with me as she had against the others..."

"You're learning how to intimidate your foes," Pur Fum snorted derisively,

"That's an improvement."

Xian Pu looked down at her feet, "Well, maybe I shouldn't have let myself get so

angry at the end of our match. I...think I hurt her pretty bad. She went

running off by herself and wouldn't answer either my calls or Lo Xion's..."

Pur Fum could not help bristling as she growled, "Is there a point to all of

this?"

Xian Pu looked up into her friend's eyes, unable to comprehend what she saw

there. The anger that was smoldering in those sapphire eyes was unmistakable,

and without meaning to she took a step back and said, "What did I do now? Pur

Fum..."

"You can be so dense sometimes," Pur Fum advanced on the other girl a half-step,

"You have no idea...you don't know anything! That's why I'm so angry! Do you

delight in tormenting me with the fact that you're so popular with the others

while I'm the hated outcast..."

"What?" Xian Pu blinked, "But I..."

"Oh yes," Pur Fum came on relentlessly, feeling the words spill out of her

without her normal restraint, "The others fear and resent you because you are so

much better than they are, but deep down they admire you and consider you our

best and brightest! Me...they all spit on my name, call me a coward and a

weakling because Great Grandmother will not allow me to complete alongside them!

You're the one everyone hails as our champion while I'm...I'm not even worth

mentioning in the same sentence."

"Pur Fum...what are you babbling about?" Xian Pu said somewhat defensively as

she backed away from her friend's anger.

"Babbling?" Pur Fum snarled, "Of course it's all nonsense to you! You never

think about what I have to go through living in your shadow! You never think

about me at all! Some friend you are!"

"That's not true and you know it!" Xian Pu replied defensively, "I'd never do

anything to you to make you this angry! Why are you blaming me for the way

other people treat you. We've been companions for so long..."

"But does that make us friends?" Pur Fum challenged, "We share everything alike,

yes? But there are some things we can't share, ever! You can't share the

normality that you were born with, just as I can't share with you the agony that

I live with almost constantly, the knowledge that one scratch, one tiny little

pinprick can leave me totally paralyzed, while you can hit your head against a

rock all day! Do you know what the Bakusai Tenketsu took for me to master? I

didn't even have to swing from a rope! Mere contact with the boulder was enough

to send me into screaming anguish!"

"Pur Fum..." Xian Pu tried to say, but her friend continued to advance and would

not allow her to finish forming the question.

"But that wasn't the worst of it, no! No, you have to come between me and the

one thing I desire for myself in the entire world! You have to come between me

and Lo Xion, and that's an agony I can no longer endure!"

"Lo Xion?" Xian Pu said in confusion, "What about you and Lo Xion...?"

"I love her!" Pur Fum cried, almost shouting in Xian Pu's face as the other girl

staggered backwards, reacting as if verbally stung or expecting to be struck a

blow though none was needed or intended.

"You...?" Xian Pu gasped, astonished at the heat in her companion's declaration.

"Yes!" Pur Fum snapped, and then she paused as if her own words were only just

catching up with her and she more calmly declared, "Yes...I have been for some

time...maybe even as long as you have, but I never could say the words until

now. You are so dense or besotted with your own desires or you might have

noticed it before now. I love her, but she turned to you for love, you...with

your beauty and your strength, and not me, who nobody can love, because I'm weak

and flawed while you're so damned perfect!"

Pur Fum tapped Xian Pu on her chest, a light contact that was meant to convey

her emotions with a physical gesture that for her would have been the equivalent

of a hard slap, but in doing so she underestimated the effect that it would have

on Xian Pu's balance. The ground that they were standing upon was not stable,

being composed mainly of decaying wet leaves that hid the unevenness of the

terrain and made footing treacherous for even a careful person. Xian Pu put her

foot back too far and lost her footing as well as her balance, sliding off the

shoulder of the path they were on and tumbling into a small ravine that hid her

from immediate view.

Pur Fum, of course, knew the lay of the land quite well but in her rage she had

forgotten that Xian Pu's senses were not as acute as her own. All at once she

saw Xian Pu tumbling back and was momentarily overcome with surprise, a

paralysis that only lasted a few seconds but was long enough for her to see Xian

Pu disappear from sight with a splashing noise following shortly thereafter.

"Xian Pu?" Pur Fum murmured faintly, and when no one answered she cried out,

"Xian Pu!" and lurched forward, heedless that the ground might give way under

her feet, trusting in her phenomenal sense of balance to keep her steady as she

raced to the edge to see what had become of her friend. At first her efforts

were not rewarded, but then her sensitive ears picked up the sounds of Xian Pu's

heartbeat.

It took only moments for her to find her way down to where she found Xian Pu

laying face down on the bank of a narrow stream, her clothing being tugged on by

the current that was attempting to drag her out to deeper water. Xian Pu seemed

unconscious, most probably stunned by the fall, and she might drown in another

minute if Pur Fume could not drag her back on shore. As Kho Lon had often

warned them it only took a few inches of water to obstruct breathing in even the

best of fighters...

Without hesitation Pur Fum jumped into the water, feeling the shock of contact

through the soles of her slippers as she felt the hated transformation start to

take her. She had less than a second before it would take full effect, so she

acted quickly to grasp Xian Pu by the waist and collar of her shirt and heaved

her out of the water with all the strength that she could muster. Mid way to

doing this she felt her body begin to shrink and collapse inward, but she had

succeeded in getting Xian Pu out of the water. Pur Fum saw her companion's body

arc towards dry land before her vision was obscured by the weight of her silk

garments closing in around her, weighing her down as the concealed harness that

served to brace her axes behind her back became an enclosure in which her small

cat body was entrapped a second later.

Pur Fum struggled to free herself of this prison as the silks became soaked

through and took on added weight, threatening to drag her down into the very

water that was soaking her fur with the chill of recently melted icewater. In

growing panic she cried out in protest of such an ignoble end to a warrior's

career, only to feel the bundle surrounding her being yanked up and deposited on

dry land. A moment later a pair of hands freed her from the wet silks and she

was lifted into the arms of Xian Pu, who tightly embraced her.

"I'm sorry!" Xian Pu cried as the mutual warmth of both of their bodies slowly

replaced the chill they each felt, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know, I never meant

to hurt you! Please forgive me, Pur Fum! Please...forgive me!"

It was a first for both of them, Xian Pu apologizing and Pur Fum tacitly

acknowledging her own error. The moment of rage and madness had passed her,

leaving a clarity that was born of a mutual brush with near death, repairing the

rift that had been growing between them. Afterwards not a word would be

exchanged over the incident, but everything had changed for both of them. They

understood each other better now, had more respect for the others position and

had demonstrated a selfless loyalty that transcended all other considerations.

The issue of Lo Xion remained, but somehow the incident had done much to relieve

the jealousy that Pur Fum had been feeling for so long that it had felt like

ages. Xian Pu now had to reevaluate her relationship in the light of Pur Fum's

admission and resolved to see what Lo Xion herself thought about partaking of a

threesome.

One who was not so sanguine about the resolution of this matter was Kho Lon

herself, who saw instead the confirmation of her worst anxieties. She resolved

to be the first one to confront Lo Xion, only what she had to say would not lead

to such a happy accommodation...

"Here it is," said Ryoga, "This is the place, home sweet home. Thanks for

helping me to find it again, guys."

"It's what friends are for, Ryo-chan," Nabiki replied, "Maybe your mother will

be home this time. Do you think she might invite us in?"

"I don't know," Ryoga said, walking up to his front porch, "I can go inside and

ask. Wait here and I'll go have a look." He moved in past the front door,

having removed his shoes first, then called out, "Hey, Mom, are you home?

Mother?"

"So this is Ryoga's place, huh?" Ukyo looked around at what they could see of

the place from the outside, "Not much to look at. There are weeds

everywhere...are you sure that somebody actually lives here?"

"Well, this is the place where we pick up Ryoga ever morning on the way to

school," Sakura shrugged, "Don't let appearances fool you, Mrs. Hibiki doesn't

do any housework, and Mister Hibiki is supposed to have the family curse of

having no sense of direction. I guess he can't find the place, which must make

it pretty interesting since somebody has to be paying for the rent and utilities

here."

"Weird," Ukyo shook her head in disbelief.

"You get used to weird at our school," Keiko said brightly, "Weird stuff is

happening all the time, like Youma showing up, people behaving strangely for no

apparent reason, the Sailor Senshi making regular appearances..."

"The Sailor Senshi?" Ukyo frowned, "I've heard of them. Are they some kind of

promotional media group helping to market the new Sailor V II video game

release?"

"Nope," Sakura said, "They're for real all right, only they kind of show up

whenever we have a major crisis brewing then disappear without a trace after the

excitement is over, real mysterious, huh?"

"Superheroes are for real," Keiko flashed Sakura a meaningful smirk,

"Virginity...that's a myth."

"I thought a myth was a female moth," Sakura shot back, her own smirk redoubling

Keiko's ulterior meaning.

Ukyo glanced at the two then shook her head in mild incredulity. It had not

taken very long for her to discern that the two girls were involved in something

that went well beyond the normal definitions of friendship, while Ryoga seemed

only to have eyes for Nabiki. Ukyo had caught the lost boy mooning over the

shorthaired martial artist and wondered briefly if Nabiki had any clue to the

boy's feelings or if Ryoga's infatuation were merely one-sided.

For a certainty the boy had been sending Ukyo some not-so-subtle glances of

warning as though suspecting her of harboring intentions on the girl who held

his interest and because Ukyo was still playing the boy-and Nabiki had agreed

to keep her gender a secret-she could not correct him on his misassumption.

"It's all right," Ryoga called out, "You can come inside. Mom's not here but

she left a note that said it was all right for me to have guests over. It's

been hanging there for a month, so I guess it's pretty recent..."

"Over a month old, Ryoga-kun?" Nabiki could not keep the surprise out of her

voice.

"Well, Mom's not always here," Ryoga said with a shrug, "The note said that she

was off to the store to buy some milk so I shouldn't expect her back for a

couple of weeks at the least."

"Your mother's got a problem with directions, too?" Sakura remarked in surprise.

"Gee, what are the odds of that?" Keiko seconded her opinion.

"Well, It's kind of like a curse that runs in my family," Ryoga felt along the

back of his head and made a funny high-pitched laugh that sounded entirely too

nervous.

"I guess," Ukyo remarked as she observed that there was dust everywhere in the

room with a musty smell in the air that suggested that the place needed to be

aired out rather badly.

"So, Ryo-chan," Nabiki mused, "What's your mother like? I've only seen her a

couple of times at a distance, and I rarely hear you even make mention of your

father..."

"Well," Ryoga said nervously, twilling his fingers together while avoiding

looking directly at Nabiki, "Mom's very pretty, and she's a great fighter who's

taught me a lot about Martial Arts...but Dad, well...I don't see him all that

often. In fact, it's been some time since I've seen him at all. He got lost

some time ago before I started going to public school..."

"Huh?" Ukyo reacted, "At what level?"

"Uh..." Ryoga said somewhat sheepishly, "First or second grade...I think."

"Oh," Sakura said knowingly, "Wandered off and left you, you mean, just like

your old man, en Keiko-chan?"

"No way!" Keiko insisted, "My Dad's serving with the UN as a Lieutenant Colonel

on a peacekeeping mission to some place called Shadaloo. He never abandoned me,

he was called away on duty."

"You sound very proud of your father," Ukyo noted.

"You bet!" Keiko crowed, waving a small fist as if to challenge the heavens, "My

Dad's the best fighter in the world, and I'm gonna be just like him some day!

That's why I'm studying Muy Tai to get really strong and learn how to fight like

him. My Dad knows Tai Boxing, Wu Shu, Shotokan Karate, Korean Mu Du Kwan and

Hapkido..."

"Sounds like a pretty well rounded guy," Nabiki mused, "I think I'd like to meet

him."

"Bet he couldn't take Ryu," Sakura grinned, "I hear they're both into Street

Fighting, the real stuff and not that fancy tournament fighting with rules and

referees."

"Oh yeah?" Keiko challenged, "Well my Dad is huge! He's got muscles like tree

trunks and arms so big he can squeeze boulders to powder..."

"When's the last time you saw your Dad?" Ukyo asked, hoping to head off another

periodic squabble by her two new friends, who seemed to spend as much time

arguing and teasing one another as they did with hugging and kissing.

"Ah..." Keiko hesitated, "About maybe...six or seven years..."

"Right," Nabiki mused, "Well, consider your proportions slightly altered by

perspective, but I'll allow your father must be pretty good if he taught you

enough by age seven to give you a jump ahead of your peer group. Doesn't look

like anybody's been home in a while Ryoga. Guess we'll have to come back

another time. You want to stay here or come over to my place? I think Mrs.

Yamaguchi is serving Cantonese fried noodles..."

"Uh, well...thanks," Ryoga said with even greater nervousness than before, "But

I think I'd better just hang around here in case my mother shows up. See you

again tomorrow at school?"

"Sure thing, Ryo-chan," Sakura said, "Pick you up again at the usual time."

"Take care of yourself, Stud Muffin," Keiko teased as she and Sakura headed

towards the door together, resuming their petty argument over their favorite

adult fighters with comradely banter.

"You sure you're going to be okay, Ryoga-kun?" Ukyo asked, finding the boy

likeable if a little slow upstairs and surprisingly quite honest.

"I'll manage," Ryoga sounded slightly depressed, "I'm used to eating alone, and

Mom stocks up on a lot of food stuffs that I can prepare for myself if she

doesn't make it back in time to make dinner. See you around, Ukyo-kun."

"Sure thing, Sugar," Ukyo replied, thinking to herself, [And I thought I had

parent troubles...]

"May I be permitted to enter, child?"

Lo Xion the younger blinked her eyes before hastily stepping back from the

doorway, "Of course, Elder, my home is your home. I'm afraid Aunt Silk is away

at the moment..."

"It was not your aunt whom I wished to address," Kho Lon noted gravely once she

was inside the small house that Silk shared with her grandmother and daughter,

both of whom she also knew to be away on other business, "It is you with whom I

need to speak concerning my two great granddaughters."

"Xian Pu and Pur Fum?" Lo Xion became suddenly quite nervous, "If it is about

the time we spend together..."

Kho Lon sighed, "In a way it is. Understand, child, that I have nothing

personally against you, and I am not so ancient that I have forgotten what it is

to be young while experiencing your first taste of passion. I have abstained

from making comment about the affair between you and Xian Pu out of respect for

your privacy...however...matters have deteriorated to the point where I can no

longer remain idle."

"Oh?" Lo Xion asked with deceptive calm, but inwardly she was twittering with

anxiety, afraid of what she knew must be the purpose behind the Matriarch's

visit.

"Were it simply a matter of you distracting Xian Pu from her studies then I

might counsel you finding a more discrete way of expressing your ardor, but

there is another involved here whom your activities have been affecting, and not

for the better. Are you aware that Pur Fum has also expressed an interest in

you for more than simple companionship?"

"Pur Fum?" Lo Xion could not conceal her surprise, "I...I did not know she felt

that way...I have always...valued her friendship very deeply..."

"Perhaps you should have said so sooner," Kho Lon replied, "I would have far

less issue if you had chosen to experiment with Pur Fum rather than Xian Pu. My

adopted great granddaughter is not in line to become the next tribal Matriarch,

she is not even properly classed as a true warrior due to her unfortunate

condition. When she becomes the next tribal Enforcer she will need all the love

and support that she can find to cope with the awesome responsibility that she

will have to endure and you could have been a valuable support in her efforts.

These is no requirement that either of you bear children, as Xian Pu must if she

is to continue our family line into the next generation. I would even overlook

the amount of time that you would distract her from her duties if only you had

not chosen Xian Pu first, and now both girls are in rivalry to court you."

"I...don't understand..." Lo Xion started to say when Kho Lon fixed her with a

hard gaze that caused her to fall silent.

"Pur Fum challenged Xian Pu over you not two hours ago," Kho Lon revealed, "It

wasn't a formal challenge, more like a very short brawl that resulted in the

both of them receiving only minor injuries. The experience has left them both

quite shaken, and you can imagine the self-recriminations that they are feeling

over this incident. The each feel...very badly about what happened."

The blue haired girl's mouth hung open for a moment, and then Lo Xion gasped, "I

didn't know! On my word, by the name of all my ancestors, I did not know! I

would never have..."

"I know you would not have come between them deliberately," Kho Lon waved a hand

to dismiss the point, "The fact remains that they each could have died had the

fight become serious. I'm afraid that I simply cannot allow this situation to

continue. Xian Pu will be Tribal Champion in another season or two, and Pur Fum

will be our Enforcer, and that is all that may be said upon that matter. They

will need to depend on one another, to establish bonds of trust that are

unbreakable so that they may guide the future of all the Joketsuzoku. I simply

cannot have a third party coming between them and disrupting that relationship,

therefore I have decided that your association with my great granddaughters must

be terminated."

"Terminated?" Lo Xion felt as though her whole world were crumbling around her

on just that once pronouncement, "But I..."

"I know what you would say," Kho Lon replied, waving the protest to one side,

"You love both of my great granddaughters very much and would do anything to

help them achieve their destinies. That is why I have decided to send you for

further training at the village of Kappa Springs. You can study with their

village Healer and learn something about Western Medical techniques in their

local clinic. It is several days away from here and I have already made the

necessary arrangements. You will leave early tomorrow after saying your good

byes to my Great Granddaughters, after which you are forbidden to have any

relations with them for the next three seasons. I will permit periodic

correspondences by mail but that is all that I will tolerate. Pack your things

and get an early rest, I will arrive tomorrow to consult with your Elders."

So saying the old woman turned and left the house of her rival, the Elder Lo

Xion, steeling her ancient heart against the sobs that soon echoed from within,

followed by a low, whining keen as a young girl's heart was tragically broken...

"Hello, Nabiki-chan," smiled Genma as he encountered his niece while walking

home from the market, "How was school today?"

"Hello, Pops," Nabiki smiled her usual sly smile and eyed the man whom she had

known for seven years as her legal guardian and Sensei, "School was fine, I

learned a lot. I've been practicing those new Katas you've been teaching me,

care to see?"

"Anytime you feel lucky," Genma smiled in anticipation.

Of a sudden Nabiki launched herself into a flying backward kick, which Genma

easily dodged, but Nabiki spun around while still in mid-leap and lashed out

with her other foot, which came closer to connecting and forced Genma to take a

back-step while raising his defenses. He barely got his guard up in time to

meet the side-kick that followed her landing, then Nabiki rapidly shot three

round house kicks to his groin, solar plexus and chin in the space of one

second, all of which the larger man met and countered before signifying a time-

out.

"Very good, Nabiki-chan!" Genma smiled, "You pulled that off like an expert.

Still need to work a bit on your power, but your kicks have better reach and are

coming closer to connecting. You learned that maneuver working out with your

friend Keiko, right?"

"Sure did," Nabiki said brightly as she assumed a cute-girl pose and beamed a

cherubic smile that would have done justice to an angel, "Keiko's got real

powerful kicks and it's fun to train with her and Sakura."

"What about your other friend, Ryoga?" Genma asked, "He seems like a very fine

young man, and not all that bad in martial arts either."

"Maybe so," Nabiki resumed her forward walk as Genma fell into stride alongside

her, "But he doesn't fight with us girls, seems to think it's dishonorable or

some such nonsense. He works out with his mother all the time, but he says his

Ryu is too powerful to use on other kids our age. You know he's pretty strong

for a boy, maybe even stronger than you...fights a little like us, too."

"That's not very likely," Genma replied, "Saotome Ryu is freeform style, we

don't adhere to one simple school or discipline, so the possibility of another

school matching our form is very unlikely."

"What about my Father's Ryu?" Nabiki asked, "Isn't Tendo school the same as

Saotome?"

"They're closely related, but your father and I developed very different attack

styles," Genma explained, "When we were training with our master we would

practice on each other all the time, but gradually our styles began to vary

until you could see distinctive differences between us. I prefer to use aerial

attacks to overcome an opponent's size and reach, and attacking like a bird of

prey gives you a height advantage, not to mention adds the power of the Earth to

our downward movements."

"You mean gravity?" Nabiki asked.

"More than that," Genma replied, "There's leverage and balance, of course, but

it's an elemental attack, becoming one with the clouds enveloping the mountain.

You'll understand more of the philosophy behind it in good time. Truth is you

already know more than I did when I was your age, and at the rate you're

progressing you've very soon be as good as I promised your father I'd make you."

"Well, I still think Ryoga's Ryu is pretty close to being like ours," Nabiki

said, "He can attack from the air almost as good as me, and he moves about the

same, given that he's a boy and all of that. I think he calls his style The One

Righteous Fist Ryu, or something like that..."

"What?" Genma halted in his tracks, looking astonished, "N-Nani?"

"What's wrong?" Nabiki turned around, "You know that system?"

Genma knelt down and laid his hands on her upper arms, "Nabiki...it's very

important that you tell me something...what is the name of Ryoga's mother?"

"Her name?" Nabiki blinked, "I don't think he's ever mentioned it...wait! I

think I did scan the name off the mailbox at his house. I think...Atsuko...yes,

that was it! Atsuko and Hiroshi Hibiki, those are the names of Ryoga's

parents."

"Hiroshi Hibiki?" Genma blinked, then looked away and murmured softly under his

breath, "Maybe she re-married...yes, that has to be it. Someone else Atsuko

fell for...I just hope he was worthy. Funny that he took her surname,

though...oh well," he shrugged, "I guess it's not all that important after all."

Nabiki was eyeing her strangely, perceiving that there was some connection

between her uncle and Ryoga's mother. Deciding to play on her hunch she tried a

roundabout tactic and said, "Speaking of blasts from the past, you'll never

guess who enrolled at Furinkan earlier this week. Does the name Kuonji ring any

bells?"

"Kuonji?" Genma frowned, and then his face betrayed surprise and recognition,

"Kuonji Ukyo? She's here at Juban? What's she doing in Tokyo? "

"Looking for us, apparently," Nabiki folded her arms over her chest, "Funny

thing, she pretty much confirms what I've long suspected about you stealing her

father's Yatai cart..."

"I tell you it wasn't stolen," Genma said both defensively and with a hint of

exasperation over what was an old argument between them, "It was a gift!"

"Not according to Ukyo it wasn't," Nabiki glowered, "I told her where we sold

the cart so maybe she can find it and restore at least some of the damage you

caused her all those years ago. Honestly, Pops, what were you thinking? We'll

be lucky if her father doesn't sue us for a lot of money!"

Genma's expression surprisingly hardened and he said, "I can't explain it to

you, Nabiki, but I swear to you that I did not steal that yatai. Now, not

another word on the subject. We're marching home now and packing our

belongings."

"What?" Nabiki blinked, "But..."

"I said not to argue with me," Genma was already moving forwards, "It's for your

own good, not to mention both our families. I'll explain some day when you're

old enough to appreciate the sacrifices that a father must make for his

children. All I can tell you at this time is that we have to move on again, so

I'm afraid you won't get to finish this semester..."

"You have got to be kidding me!" Nabiki all but shouted, "They held me back a

year after missing the last one! Do you have any idea what your constantly

moving us from one place to another is doing to my grade point level?"

"I'm sorry, but it's necessary," Genma replied, "I'll make it up to you, I

swear!"

"So...where are we headed this time?" Nabiki glowered, knowing she was in no

position to refuse Genma's decisions, not with so much of her moneyed interests

tied up in joint accounts that required his adult signature.

"I have no idea just yet," Genma replied, "But I will think of something."

Nabiki saw an opening and took advantage, "Then you wouldn't mind if I helped

you out in making plans? I have a few suggestions for places we could go, you

can even make it a part of our training mission."

"That's fine by me," Genma replied with a distracted air. It was indeed all

right if Nabiki helped out with the planning phase since she was remarkably

clever and had always in the past more than adequately handled their travel

arrangements. All that was important to him was putting as much distance as he

could between themselves and the dangerous combination of Kuonji Ukyo and Hibiki

Atsuko.

Nabiki smiled. This was perfect! With Genma so clearly taken up with the many

crimes of his past he would be in a fit mood for her not-too-subtle powers of

manipulation. Aloud she purred, "Well then, how do you feel about taking a trip

out of the country? Travel abroad supposedly expands the mind, and I know some

dandy places that could also greatly expand the size of our wallets..."

"You can't be serious, Great Grandmother," Xian Pu managed to stammer. Their

Elder could not be so cruel! Forcing Lo Xion to leave while the issue between

them and Pur Fum was unresolved? It was unthinkable! Obscene...

"The matter is decided," Kho Lon declared, "I will brook no argument from either

of you. Be glad that I permit you to exchange these parting words after the way

the both of you have behaved of late. Say your good-byes and let your lover go.

She will train with another village and learn modern healing methods to

accompany her Amazon arts, while you will both return to your studies with no

further distractions."

Pur Fum just stared at the Elder without comprehension. Lo Xion was leaving?

But it could not be! She had been a part of their lives for so long...why was

the Matriarch forcing this to happen? It was unfair! And she still had not

managed to find the words to confess her unrequited longing!

Lo Xion was in her travel gear with her belonging already packed and at her

side. She was looking at them both with sad eyes and a face set with barely

contained emotions, yet she was trying to be brave, for all their sakes, not the

least for the sake of their Elders. The Matriarch had left her little choice in

the matter, and the knowledge that she had caused a rift between Xian Pu and Pur

Fum was enough to decide for her that this was probably the wisest (if least

pleasant) course of action.

"Xian Pu," she said bravely, "Pur Fum, it's all right. I'm doing what's best

for all of us. I really don't want to go, you both mean so much to me..." she

fought for control before she managed to continue, "But the Elder is right, I

have been very selfish. I've taken you away from your studies and interfered

with your destiny for too long. Now it's time to move on with our lives...but I

will miss you both very much."

Her voice shook as she said this but she managed not to cry, which caused Silk

to smile at her niece in sad appreciation. That little speech had cost Lo Xion

more than she could dare to reveal. It was like parting with her left and right

arm, the only two friends she had in all the world, and who both loved her with

equal intensity, if Silk was any judge at reading the clues all three were

giving. One did not need to be a Lore Master to perceive that it was only the

presence of the Matriarch that kept them from rushing into an embrace that would

convey their true feelings more than any words that would ever be spoken.

At Silk's other side was her daughter, Ka Chu, who was glaring angrily at

everybody, ready to snap out that the whole matter was stupid without proper

regard for what the Matriarch might think of a seventeen year old girl

questioning her opinions. Ka Chu was in training to become the tribe's resident

Exorcist, but she had never managed to overcome the demons of anger and

resentment that had caused her to lose her Warrior's status two seasons back.

Silk knew that her daughter regarded Lo Xion like a little sister, which was why

she was overly protective of the girl and filled with resentment towards anyone

who might threaten Lo Xion's happiness. Although no true friend of either Xian

Pu or Pur Fum, she respected them and knew of Lo Xion's feelings towards the

former, so this decision to part ways was-in her eyes-a mistake, and it was

only the Matriarch's presence that prevented her from saying so outright.

Lo Xion the Elder just sighed, knowing in her heart that Kho Lon was wrong to

separate the child from her two friends, that this matter could only end badly,

and having once tasted the folly that their Matriarch was capable of aspiring to

she had made her opinions on this subject well known the night before. To no

avail, of course, but in fairness to her great granddaughter she had felt

compelled to say it.

Lo Xion clasped hands with Xian Pu and looked into her eyes for a very long time

before parting with a kiss that the others politely ignored, but then she came

to stand before Pur Fum and her voice dropped to a barely audible whisper.

"Pur Fum," Lo Xion said softly, "My good friend...how have I wronged you? I

never knew your true feelings for me...in a way I wish I had turned to you

first. I have always trusted and respected your wisdom, and I've cherished our

time together. I hope someday you'll find it in your heart to forgive me, but

for now please forgive Xian Pu. She needs your strength, your place is beside

her."

And then she surprised Pur Fum by moving forward until their mouths were close

enough for a kiss, and that simple gesture left Pur Fum's head swimming as

unvoiced possibilities briefly flirted through her mind, to be banished at once

as the reality of the moment intruded on her consciousness. Then Lo Xion broke

the kiss and stepped away, turning without another word and heading towards the

open road leading away from their village.

It took every ounce of self-control to remain where she was as the girl she

loved walked out of her life to an unknown destiny. Xian Pu spoke Lo Xion's

name as if to call her back but Kho Lon intervened and said, "Let her go. She

must make this journey on her own, Xian Pu. You cannot walk her path for her,

Lo Xion must earn her way in life as a true Amazon. She will return one day a

much stronger person."

Pur Fum did not care about any of that, all she wanted was to run after Lo Xion

and join her in semi-exile. Instead she watched her leave, knowing a part of

her own life was leaving, and what could ever fill the void created by her

absence? That was a question for which even the Elders could have no answer...

"She's what?" Ukyo asked.

"Nabiki's gone," Sakura replied, "Her uncle pulled out of classes and the two of

them are no longer living with the Yamaguchis. Apparently they left early this

morning before Keiko and me stopped by to walk her to classes."

"This is really weird," Keiko shook her head in disbelief, "It's totally unlike

the Nabiki we know! She's never been the impulsive sort, she's always been a

planner. I'm sure she would have told us if she was going anywhere..."

"Genma," Ukyo growled, "This is his doing, I'd bet any amount of money! He must

have heard that I was in town and the coward didn't want to face the music! And

after what he did to me..."

"Yeah, we know," Sakura replied, then paused to add, "The one I feel sorry for

is Ryoga."

"No fooling," Keiko sniffed, "He's real broken up about it. You know what a

thing he has for Nab-chan, even if she never recognized it. Her total

disappearance has left him devastated! I don't think he said a word all the way

to class this morning, he just kept staring at the fence that Nabiki usually

walks on as if expecting her to be there!"

Ukyo had privately noticed that Nabiki was in the habit of walking along the

tops of fences and other hazardous surfaces as a means of practicing her

phenomenal balance but had learned to adjust to this after the first couple of

days the same as the others. Her private estimate was that Nabiki had improved

a thousandfold in her martial arts from the time that they were children, and if

anything she was even more cunning and manipulative than ever. It was difficult

to credit the idea that Genma could put anything over on her or allow herself to

get dragged around without her consent. Either Genma was more cunning than Ukyo

remembered or there was more to the story than could be discerned from the

evidence on hand.

One surprising discovery had been the fact that Nabiki seemed to possess some

rudimentary code of honor in spite of her notorious amorality. This was plain

in the fact that she had freely consented to Ukyo's request that she not reveal

her true sex before others. Keiko and Sakura still treated Ukyo as if she were

a boy, which it was doubtful that Ryoga would even have noticed her gender with

his eyes turned towards Nabiki, and those occasional looks of warning he would

give her way whenever he suspected Ukyo might be making overtures towards "his"

girlfriend.

Ukyo sighed as she regarded her three friends. Sakura and Keiko weren't

interested, and while Ryoga certainly had his attractive qualities it was plain

that he had accepted Ukyo as a boy and that was all he would notice on the

subject. For the first time in her life she considered what it might be like to

have a boyfriend, assuming she could ever find one who would overlook her

masculine qualities and behavior. Technically she had an iinazuke out there

named Saotome Ranma, but since he was the son of Saotome Genma Ukyo did not hold

out much hope that he would be any better than his father.

Ukyo was about to ask her friends if there were some way that the three of them

could cheer up Ryoga when she heard a voice calling out to her, then turned

around and saw her friend Makoto approaching. The taller girl came up to her

with a happy smile and asked, "Hey, Ukyo-kun...would you like to go out to a

movie?"

"I..." Ukyo started to reply when she was beaten to the punch.

"What time do you want him to pick you up?" Sakura asked for her.

"Sakura?" Ukyo said in surprise and exasperation.

"Hey, be a man, show her a good time, Ucchan," Keiko grinned.

"But...!" Ukyo started to say, then stopped herself. She did not want to give

her big secret away, and a date with another girl might be a harmless way to

throw her off the trail...

"How about six?" Makoto asked with a happy grin, "Unless you'd rather wait until

the weekend when they're showing matinee."

"Um...six sounds just fine," Ukyo shrugged, thinking ["Why not? Makoto is

certainly a lot of fun to be with].

"Great! See you then!" Makoto said as she turned around and began almost to

float from the schoolyard on a cloud from seventh heaven, her feet skipping with

joy as she contemplated a date with her dreamboy lover.

"Wow!" Keiko remarked, "You sure worked some kind of charm over her. It's a

pretty rare day when Makoto hangs out with somebody who isn't a member of the

Cherry Hill Mafia..."

"The what?" Ukyo asked.

"That gang of really close friends of hers who always seem to collect around the

Shrine on Cherry Hill," Sakura answered, "Lots of guys talk about it around

here, like they're in some really weird cult, or a private club or something.

Two of the girls don't even go to this school, can you believe that?"

"Yeah, and one of them's a Shrine Maiden," Keiko agreed, "Talk about your really

weird choice in playmates..."

"Anyway," Sakura resumed, "Makoto's chased after a lot of guys in the past, but

she hardly ever gets to first base with them on account of how tall she is and

the way she beats people up when she gets mad. Most guys are intimidated by

that."

"Yeah, go figure," Keiko chuckled, "The little boys can't take the idea of some

girl being tougher than they are. At least you don't seem to be like that,

Ukyo. In a lot of ways you kind of remind me of Ryoga."

"Oh?" Ukyo asked, "Why is that?"

"Because you're both clueless," Sakura teased, but Keiko shook her head.

"No, it's something else," Keiko remarked, "I can't put my finger on it but I

think you and him have a lot of things in common. Maybe because you're

different from the other guys, you don't hit on us or treat us like we got a

fatal illness or something, and you're...nice, in a quiet, unassuming kind of

way."

"You know, you're right," Sakura agreed, giving Ukyo a sly appraisal, "And with

those rakish good looks of yours I'll bet lots of girls are gonna hit on you big

time. Better get ready for it, stud, you're bound to Johnny Depp 'em."

"Oh great," Ukyo rolled her eyes, thinking to herself, [That's all I need, to be

real popular with the ladies...]

In spite of her brave words Lo Xion could not keep from breaking down and crying

her first half day away from the Amazon village. It was just too painful to

think that she might not see Pur Fum or Xian Pu again for several years, and who

knew what sorts of changes they would undergo in that time. It was cruelty

beyond measure to say good bye to the two people who meant the most to her in

all the world, and with so much left unresolved, now that she knew how Pur Fum

had felt towards her...

Still she knew that she had to be strong, to go on in spite of the agony of this

separation. She could not remain if she was the cause of trouble between her

friends, and she did not want to be an obstacle to their achieving the positions

within the tribe that they had struggled so long and hard for. Somehow she

would have to get by, to finish her own training, to become a Healer, which

would show everyone who had ever doubted her-from her mother to the other

warrior children who constantly taunted her-that her life did have some

meaning, that she was not clumsy and worthless. It was not just for Pur Fum and

Xian Pu's sake, it was to prove to herself that her existence held some value.

Odd how much she already missed the smell of her Aunt's cooking, and there was

even regret about parting ways with Ka Chu, who might be hard to get along with

at times but was near enough to being her big sister, a familiar presence in her

life that she had learned somehow to cherish. Of course there was the agony of

physical withdrawal from the intimacies that she and Xian Pu had been sharing,

but she would content herself with the memory of what they had and hope that it

would sustain her on lonely evenings...

Lo Xion tensed suddenly as the sun began to set and she came at last to a rope

bridge spanning a waterfall that would carry her to the next county. Some

lingering sense from her warrior training was warning her that she was not alone

in this wilderness. She paused to glance back over her shoulder, then thought

that maybe she was either imagining things or there were people following her.

That was enough to make her hold her position and slow her breathing to allow

her ears to perceive any trace of telltale movement.

She very briefly entertained the hope that it was Xian Pu or Pur Fum who had

followed her this far to the edge of Nyanichiczu territory, but she dismissed

that almost at once as she knew neither warrior would ever be careless enough to

give away their position. Someone else then, and with warrior training. Lo

Xion could feel the hostility like a scent in the air, so again she tensed,

having a sinking sensation that she knew which warriors had come along to taunt

her.

All at once she heard movement from directly ahead of her and turned with a gasp

to see someone standing on the other side of the Rope Bridge. The shock of long

Pink hair that was combed to hide one side of that warrior's face was

distinctive even in the failing light. Lo Xion would recognize her even in the

dead of night...Ambergris, complete with her Naginata.

"Come on ahead over to my side," she said very slowly, speaking carefully to be

overheard over the rushing water, "Don't look back and I promise that I won't

hurt you."

Those words were spoken with calm and sober purpose but Lo Xion was afraid just

the same for she had watched Xian Pu's fight with Am Bur and had been a first-

hand witness of its resolution. She knew why the pink haired girl was hiding

the right side of her face from view with the angry scar that Xian Pu had given

her. She had also seen the fury in Xian Pu's eyes when she had done it, marking

her opponent deliberately in the red haze of outrage at Am Bur's betrayal of

their friendship. At the moment Lo Xion could think of only one reason for her

presence: to get even with Xian Pu. What better way to achieve this end than by

striking at her rival's only serious weakness, Lo Xion herself? These thoughts

flashed through her mind as she remained rooted where she was, gauging the

heartbeats she would last if she turned and ran away, forcing Am Bur to chase

her.

But then the noises made by other warriors detaching themselves from the bushes

cut off all thought of fleeing back the way she came. Lo Xion slowly turned

around to mark three Amazons standing athwart the trail, each wearing ugly

expressions of cruelty and contempt that sized Lo Xion up as one might a

helpless rabbit about to become their dinner.

Of course Lo Xion assumed that these three were with Am Bur, but the first words

spoken by one of the girls put that thought to rest and threw her utterly into

confusion.

"Nihao, Am Bur," that worthy-whose name was Ta Bel-said with a silky smile,

"Are you out hunting the same game as the rest of us?"

"Hardly," Am Bur replied, "I've been following this one for my own personal

reasons when I saw you three picking up her trail and decided to investigate.

What business have you with Lo Xion?"

"What business do you have?" Ta Bel shot back, "We know that she's the bed-mate

of Xian Pu, the same as you do. We owe Xian Pu almost as much as you from the

way she beat us in competition."

"Why don't we join causes, then?" said another warrior named Har Spra, "You hold

her off from your end, we'll take him from ours."

"And do what?" Am Bur's tone held a note of challenge, "Do you intend to do her

harm?"

"No," replied the third of the trio, whose name was As Prin, "We just want to

have some fun is all, find out what makes her so special that Xian Pu spends so

much time with this weak one. She's such a joke as a fighter, it wouldn't be

any sort at all for us to issue a challenge."

"You are aware that the Matriarch herself has said that no one is to lay hand

upon this girl," Am Bur noted in a tone that could have as easily been

discussing the weather, "She is to be a healer, after all, which is why they're

sending her away for special training."

"What of it?" Ta Bel asked, "Are you afraid of angering the Matriarch?"

"Of course," Am Bur answered, "What fool wouldn't be afraid of her wrath? Not

that it has an importance to me since I am leaving the Joketsuzoku to study

abroad, but I was curious if you three were brave enough to disobey her."

"We're not going to hurt her," Ta Bel said, leering at Lo Xion in a way that

made the other girl tremble with fear, "We just want to have some fun with this

girl-lover...see what she's got that we lack."

"You don't suppose she's hiding something between her legs, do you?" Har Spra

suggested to her companions, "Maybe that's why Xian Pu finds her special."

"How about it, Lo Xion," As Prin called out, "Are you a male down below? Or are

you one of those who have both genders?"

"Maybe she doesn't need a male to give her pleasure," Har Spra chortled at her

own jest, "Maybe she wouldn't mind sharing?"

"How about it, Lo Xion," Ta Bel said suggestively, "You want to share with us?"

Very calmly Am Bur said, "Walk over to me now, Lo Xion. Cross the bridge and I

will allow you to reach the other side without harm."

Lo Xion felt her fear creeping up her spine until it was nearly overwhelming.

The three warriors clearly intended to do her mischief. She knew them to be of

that minority among Amazons who found the idea of two women laying together

demeaning, rendering one woman as low as a male in copulation. She had no doubt

that they held her to be in very low esteem, which in their eyes entitled them

to do whatever they liked for their own gratification.

On the other hand Am Bur was a more puzzling enigma. Her tone was hardly

friendly, and there was pain in her expression, not to mention a great deal of

personal anger. Could she trust such a one with her welfare while turning her

back upon these others? Am Bur was good enough to tall all three of the other

girls without effort on her part, being good enough to have stood up to Xian Pu

in an ordinary challenge match, but was Lo Xion any better off placing herself

in the pink haired warrior's custody? She might decide to kidnap Lo Xion and

use her for revenge. There was no telling what such a one as her was capable

of, having betrayed Xian Pu's confidence once already. Faced by these two

options Lo Xion's prospects did not seem all that appealing.

"Please," she said to the girls behind her, "Let me pass. I'm no threat to

you..."

Ta Bel's laugh was scornful, "You've got that right. What about it, Am Bur, are

you with us, or against us?"

Am Bur's single visible eye regarded the three warriors with thinly disguised

contempt, then she favored her Naginata and said, "Call me selfish but I prefer

not to share this time. I'm only after the girl, so you can leave now while

you're able."

"Now that sounded like a threat," said As Prin, who drew out a matching pair of

bolos that she began to spin in both hands while Har Spra's hands flashed with

throwing knives and Ta Bel drew a pair of butterfly knives and crossed them with

purpose.

"Please," Lo Xion tried again, backing away from the bridge and looking for a

path up the cliff face that she could use for escape.

"I will say it one last time," said Am Bur very clearly, just audible above the

sound of the waterfall beneath her, "Leave now or face the consequences."

The other three warriors fanned out as much as they could on the narrow

shoulder, confident that there was not enough room for Am Bur to make full

effective use of the Naginata. Lo Xion backed away, only to find her foot

encountering reduced resistance. She hastily moved back from the edge, her

heart in her hands at the near tumble she had almost taken. She missed the

opening volley as As Prin and Har Spra made the first attack, only to see Am Bur

wave her Naginata in a rapid, complex pattern weaving in the air and knocking

aside both the knives and bolos. As Prin flicked her wrists, tugging on the

cords connected to the bolos to retract them, only to have one go wild as a

consequence of the Naginata. Lo Xion turned just in time to see that bolo

spinning rapidly at her head, and before she could even think to duck the metal

spheres struck her a glancing blow and knocked her unconscious.

"No!" Am Bur cried as she saw the girl tumble off the cliff towards the

waterfall. At the last second she hurled her Naginata in an attempt to snag Lo

Xion's clothing to prevent her fall, but she missed her target by a hair and Lo

Xion continued her plunge all the way down to vanish seconds later into the

foaming waters at the base two hundred feet below them.

A deathly silence fell over everyone as the three warriors rushed to the edge

and stared down in dawning horror at what they had accidentally caused to

happen. It took several long seconds before any of them registered the fact

that Am Bur had spoken to them again, then the words she spoke penetrated, "I

suggest you three go into hiding."

With that the pink haired warrior jumped up onto one of the ropes supporting the

bridge then executed a perfect dive, landing close to where Lo Xion had vanished

in the lake while the three warriors stood their ground and held their breath

for a full minute. Then by mutual consent they turned around and started

running...

"Lo Xion!" Xian Pu cried out in her sleep, disturbing Pur Fum out of her efforts

at meditation.

Pur Fum had been standing early watch as she sun painted long shadows among the

trees, unable to share her friend's need for sleep in spite of the intense

training session Kho Lon had insisted on putting them through. Try as she might

Pur Fum could not get Lo Xion out of her mind, so her first impulse was to

regard Xian Pu's outburst as the product of their joint nightmare, but one

second later her friend sat bolt erect and cried out, "Lo Xion! Something has

happened!"

"What's wrong?" Pur Fum was at her adopted cousin's side, alarmed to see that

Xian Pu was shaking like a leaf and sweating profusely, though only her

sensitive nostrils could have picked that up in the dim light of their dying

campfire.

"I-I dreamed about Lo Xion," Xian Pu sought Pur Fum out with her hands and

fumbled until she was able to close her own about those callused fingers, "She

was walling to her death and her head was bleeding...I felt her losing

consciousness-oh, Cousin! Something terrible has happened to her!"

Pur Fum might have dismissed Xian Pu's words as the product of their mutual

distress save that she felt a cold dread pass down her spine as the images they

conjured conveyed all sorts of hideous suspicions. Lo Xion was not a popular

girl in their village, and there had been those who often muttered dire thoughts

regarding her when they did not think Pur Fum could hear them. What if some of

those took the opportunity of her leaving as a pretext to carry out their awful

schemes?

"Dress yourself," Pur Fum said in as steady a voice as she could manage, trying

to calm her own fears with the steely discipline that she normally used to

shield her mind against even the most minor of discomforts. She did not have to

repeat the words as Xian Pu was already on her feet reaching for her belongings.

Two hours later they were at the waterfall, having run the entire way in spite

of the approach of night making the way treacherous for even a careful tracker.

Neither one of them had been willing to take the easy approach, their mutual

dread forcing them on beyond the needs of their bodies. Pur Fum had led the way

with her unerring sense of direction, guided by little clues that told her which

path Lo Xion had taken.

Once they reached the waterfall, however, it was Xian Pu who had taken the lead,

coming up to the edge of the cliff besides the rope bridge where Pur Fum

detected the signs of a brief scuffle. Xian Pu stood staring at the waterfall,

then turned to gaze below at the tumbling water. Pur Fum knelt down as a smell

attracted her attention, and with careful probing of her fingers she found the

traces of dried blood that she knew to be recent.

"This is where it happened," Xian Pu's voice sounded hollow over the much louder

noise of the waterfall, "This is where she fell...this is where she died!"

Pur Fum could not help but take note of the rising tone of her companion and at

once leaped up to throw her arms around Xian Pu to discourage her from what she

knew she had been contemplating. With a frantic cry of, "No, Xian Pu, Don't!

You can't help her that way!"

"Indeed," a third voice said, "Neither one of you is helping matters by carrying

on this way. I suggest you calm yourselves and think rationally about this

whole matter."

"Elder?" Pur Fum could barely make out the form of the Elder Lo Xion, but then

the tip of the ancient woman's staff began to glow, providing enough

illumination for them to see each other's faces. For Pur Fume it also seemed as

if the ancient Lore Master had appeared out of thin air, her senses having

failed to detect the Elder beforehand.

"Xian Pu," the Lore Master said with a firm tone, "Do not let your fears become

your master. I want you to calm yourself for now and take the time to assess

matters with your head as well as your heart. You cannot serve my great

granddaughter by going to pieces now of all times, when she may still need you."

Xian Pu was still looking at the cliff, but Pur Fum felt her resistance ebbing

and she let go of her companion, letting Xian Pu stand on her own power as one

factor of the crisis appeared to be momentarily averted.

"Elder," Pur Fum said, forcing the words past her own trembling lips, "You

already know..."

"I was drawn by the same vision that guided the both of you," the Lore Master

replied, "My great granddaughter was projecting the sensation of falling. Of

course I came at once to learn for myself of her fate, but I'm not surprised to

find that you somehow managed to arrive here before me. Your bonds to my

granddaughter's child are quite extraordinary, and perhaps you may help me

determine if Lo Xion lives or not..."

"You don't know?" Xian Pu's voice showed the strain of her emotions.

"I am far from Omniscient, nor am I infallible, child," the Elder said grimly,

"Neither can I trust myself to be as objective as I must be to discern Lo Xion's

fate. I do not sense her, but that does not necessarily mean that she is dead.

There are many possibilities to consider..."

"She's dead," Xian Pu said quietly, so faint that only Pur Fum's ears could

discern those words, "She's gone...I've killed her..."

"What?" Pur Fum wondered if her cousin's mind had snapped. The words made

little sense to her, but then...if what Xian Pu said was true...then nothing

made any sense any more. The chill of realization was damning...Lo Xion was

gone...not merely banished but utterly and forever gone from both of their

lives!

Somehow the Elder knew what Xian Pu was murmuring so faintly and said,

"Nonsense...you did not cause this to happen. The fault lies with others, the

both of you are blameless."

Pur Fum lowered her head and said, "With all respect, Elder, you are wrong, and

so is Xian Pu. You did not kill her, cousin...I did, with my jealousy, my anger

and greed. I was the one who caused the trouble that made great grandmother

order her to leave..."

"If anyone is at fault here it is the Matriarch herself," the Elder snapped,

"She handled the matter badly, the both of you are the victims of her meddling."

"That may be as it will, Elder," Pur Fum looked up, and suddenly her face was

set and determined, "But someone else is responsible, and if we discover that

they caused Lo Xion to fall, then their lives are forfeit. I will learn who

they are and I will punish them for what they've done..."

"I have no doubt that you are capable of this," the Elder replied, "But consider

what you intend to do before it is too late. Lo Xion would not be honored by

the deliberate spilling of blood, nor would my great granddaughter have wished

the deaths of those who sought to torment her. I sense that what happened here

was an accident, not the deliberate intent of your quarry..."

"What happens to them will be no accident," Pur Fum said as she started

forwards.

"Pur Fum?" Xian Pu asked in obvious concern.

"Don't worry," Pur Fum's own voice carried back to them with a ghostly edge that

was drained of all emotions, "I will not seek their lives...I don't intend to be

that merciful. Wait here, I will be back by morning..."

"All right, Sugar, talk," Ukyo growled, surprising Ryoga, who had been sitting

and moping in protracted silence for the past several hours.

"Uh...what about?" the dark haired boy asked in evident confusion.

Ukyo sat next to him on the wall and settled herself into a comfortable posture

as she said, "Whatever's got you in such a blue funk is what. You've been like

this ever since Nabiki disappeared. Keiko and Sakura say you've not been eating

or sleeping much and they're starting to worry."

"Oh," Ryoga replied, then fell silent as he seemed to be taking his time

thinking about it.

"Oh what?" Ukyo asked.

"Uh..." Ryoga looked down and heaved a sigh before concluding, "Maybe I just

haven't felt like doing much since she left. I...It's a little hard to explain,

Ukyo...I just feel so empty..."

"It's your own fault you know," Ukyo remarked, "You could have told her how you

feel while she was still around."

"Hah?" Ryoga had that look you might see in a deer caught in the headlights,

"But I...I couldn't...I mean...Nabiki never...well...I don't know if she really

liked me..."

"What's not to like?" Ukyo patted the boy on his shoulder and marveled at the

solidness she encountered there, "You're a nice guy, Ryoga-kun, and I know

Nabiki valued your friendship. What would it have cost you to tell her how you

feel? She might have rejected you, or she might have responded in a way that

would have surprised you. You're never going to know just sitting here on your

ass. If you really like her you ought to be out there doing something about

it."

"Like what?" Ryoga asked with a hopeful expression.

"Like finding her and telling her, you Jackass," Ukyo rolled her eyes in

exasperation, "Honestly, you're a nice guy, but you can be so incredibly dense

sometimes. What good is it doing you to sit here and mope about it? Either get

on with your life or go after her, but don't starve yourself to death doing

nothing!"

"You're right," Ryoga sat upright and stared off into space, "I have been doing

nothing. It just never occurred to me...I can still find Nabiki and tell her

how I feel. But...are you sure it would be the right thing to do?"

"It's what I'd do," Ukyo said honestly, "If I had a reason to chase after her,

you bet I'd do it."

"Then what am I waiting around here for?" Ryoga jumped off the wall and started

running, calling out over his shoulder, "Thanks, Ukyo! I'll never forget this!"

Ukyo smiled, "That boy's got it bad..."

"You, Ucchan!" a voice hailed her, causing Ukyo to turn to see Keiko and Sakura

approaching, "What did you say to Ryoga to get him out of the doldrums?"

"I just said he ought to go after his dream," Ukyo smiled, "He's gonna try and

find Nabiki to tell him about his feelings."

"Uh oh," Sakura warned, "You shouldn't have done that! Now we may never see him

again for the remainder of the semester!"

"What do you mean?" Ukyo blinked, "His problem with directions...?"

"Not just a problem," Keiko said, "If Ryoga fixes his mind on something he can

be pretty relentless, so he'll keep on chasing after Nab-chan until he finds

her, only that won't be any time shortly."

"We've told you about his problem, Ucchan," Sakura resumed, "That boy simply

can't find his way from point A to B without meandering all over the alphabet.

You mark my words, as soon as he gets lost he won't find his way again except by

accident, and even then he needs to be incredibly lucky."

"He once got lost looking for home room and instead found his way to the girl's

lockers by mistake," Keiko explained, "If Sakura and me hadn't come to his aid

as the last second he would have been trampled to death by our vengeful

classmates."

"So, In other words he's pretty much hopeless as well as clueless?" Ukyo

remarked, "Too bad, he's such a nice guy."

"Yeah," Sakura sniffed, "And we could sure use a few more like that around here,

or you for that matter."

"Me?" Ukyo blinked.

"Sure" Sakura grinned, "You're a pretty nice guy yourself, Ucchan, and I hear

you and Makoto-chan had a nice date together. Care to give us the dirty

details?"

"Ah..." Ukyo winced and began to perspire slightly, wondering how she could

answer that query. The truth as that she and Makoto had spent an enjoyable

evening together, if not quite as romantic from her perspective and it might

have seemed to Makoto. Makoto was fun to be with, even if she did give Ukyo

those funny looks and insisted on holding her hand all through the movie. Ukyo

had even accepted a light kiss on the cheek after walking her friend home, sort

of a farewell peck, and that had felt...really odd...but nothing more had come

from it, though she did worry that she might be leading her friend on by not

telling her the truth and spoiling Makoto's illusions.

Aloud to her two friends what she said was, "I'd...prefer to keep a few things

private, if you don't mind. We had a good time, so let's leave it at that."

"Hah," Keiko snorted, "You're such a typical guy, Ucchan! Makoto looked like

she was walking on air when she came to class this morning. If I were you I'd

start thinking up places to take her on your next date..."

"Next date?" Ukyo reacted with her voice pitched so high that she was afraid it

would almost give away her true gender.

"Sure thing, Stud," Keiko leered, "You didn't plan on just dumping her after the

first one, did you? A girl deserves better treatment than that, and you don't

want to make Mako-chan mad at you, right?"

To that Ukyo could only manage a weak smile, feeling very much on the spot as

she wondered how exactly she had gotten herself into this crazy situation...

"Are we there yet?"

"Almost," Ta Bel replied uncertainly, "At least I think this is the way. Hard

to say in this light, but I'm pretty sure we're almost back at the village."

"We ought to stop and make camp," Har Spra muttered, "You can't see ten paces

ahead on this trail, even with the Moonlight to help us."

"If we're late back from patrol we'll all catch it from the Elders," As Prin

complained as she batted a branch out of her face while hoping like mad that

they WERE going in the right direction.

"Remember," Ta Bel cautioned for the fifth straight time, "We don't know

anything about what happened back at that bridge, we haven't heard about any

accident and as far as any of us know Lo Xion is on her way to another

village..."

"Yeah, yeah," Har Spra growled, "You've told us that about a dozen times

already. We're not dumb enough to draw attention to ourselves, you know..."

"Then how dumb are you?"

"Huh?" Har Spra turned to glare at the woman beside her, "Just what do you mean

by that?"

"I didn't say anything!" As Prin protested.

"Then who did...?" Har Spra was about to ask when all of a sudden the tree

directly ahead of them exploded into a hail of splinters.

All three young warriors staggered back in shock and surprise as the dust

settled all around them and a dark figure took form before their eyes in the

moonlight.

"Who's there?" Ta Bel cried as she drew her Butterfly Knives and assumed a

fighting crouch while Har Spra drew her throwing daggers and As Prin produced

her bolos.

The figure said nothing as visibility improved somewhat, but then she lifted a

pair of double bladed broad axes and held them in such a way that her face

became illuminated by reflected moonlight.

"You?" Ta Bel was openly scornful, "What do you want, Pur Fum. We haven't any

time for nonsense..."

Pur Fum's only response was to suddenly hurl her axes forward, whipping them out

with such speed that the three warriors had hardly any time to blink before they

were well beyond them. Ta Bel froze as she felt the wind kicked up in their

passage brush so near to her face that there was scarcely a hairswidth

separation between blade and skin, then curved around in matching arcs to

boomerang back towards Perfume, who casually caught the twin blades without

shifting her posture.

It was with some surprise that Ta Bel suddenly felt a breeze to either side of

her nape, and with perfect clarity she became aware that her Odangos were

falling away, sheered cleanly off as if to deny her warrior status.

As Prin and Har Spra took this as a sign that they should fan out and put

distance between them and their nominal leader. They flanked the silent Pur

Fum, who seemed to take no notice of their movements. Ta Bel was still in shock

but managed to work her mouth a little, then finally gasped, "What...?"

"Did you know," Pur Fum said in a flat tone devoid of emotion, "That the heel of

your left shoe is slightly deeper than your right heel, and that you walk with a

distinctive measure to your stride very different from that of the others."

As Prin began twirling her bolos to create a distraction while Har Spra readied

two handful of throwing knives while slowly easing one foot out of her left shoe

so as to slide another set of knives that she kept hidden up her right pantleg.

"And you," Pur Fum moved her eyes but no other part of her face as she regarded

Har Spra, who froze in one-legged posture, "Are very careless. You left one of

your trademark daggers by the bridge at the Waterfall crossing. While your

bolos smell of blood..."

Without needing to glance at one another for any signal, both warriors unleashed

their weapons at the same time, hoping to coordinate their attacks in the belief

that the girl that they had long considered a weakling could not possibly avoid

or deflect all of their weapons.

But Pur Fum launched into a sudden blur as she cried out, "Steel Storm!" with

both axes weaving in a complex pattern that created an impenetrable barrier of

steel. Har Spra's knives were each caught and returned back at her while the

bolos that sought to close on Pur Fum were sheered clean of the mini-chains that

she often used to retract them. Har Spra found herself ducking a barrage from

her own weapons while Pur Fum clasped both axes in one hand and plucked the

twirling bolos out of the air, then hurled them back at As Prin with a flick of

her wrist. As Prin fell back clutching at her neck where one bolo had wrapped

itself around her wind pipe, the other trapping her legs together so that she

could not maintain her balance.

Pur Fum stood to relaxed attention and said in deathly calm, "I have come to

make you pay for what you have done. It is useless to resist me, it is suicide

to attack, but by all means...try me. You like picking on the weak so much, try

your luck with me."

Ha Spra licked her lips and considered her options, then started to edge away

when Pur Fum caught the motion and casually hurled one of her axes, arcing it

just so that it missed the other warrior by scarcely a heartbeat, the sound of

the blade slicing air having the quality of a hissing cobra before it curved

back and returned to the outstretched hand of its mistress.

Ha Spra stood her ground, looking bewildered for a moment before she felt the

top of her shirt begin to slide down, exposing her upper body. That snapped her

out of her daze so that she snarled in fury at being mocked and tried to hurl

another volley of knives at Pur Fum, only to discover that the other Amazon was

already in motion, rushing at her with a leaping kick that forced Har Spra to

duck back in dismay. Pur Fum wasted no time pivoting on one foot as she whirled

around and brought the flat of both her axes up to catch the other girl between

their grip, then with a single kick she sent the girl tumbling off into dream

land. Meanwhile As Prin was fighting for air while attempting to remove her own

constricting bolos.

That was all Ta Bel could stand for one night. Without a further second of

thought she whirled around and started running, fleeing back down the trail in

the direction they had come from, forgetting all else in her need to put

distance between herself and her assailant.

Pur Fum did not bother to hide the contempt she expressed at this display of

cowardice, but she waited a few moments before starting out in pursuit,

deliberately choosing a different path so that she could pace Ta Bel without the

other being the wiser.

Ta Bel was running blindly in the dark with branches and brambles scraping and

clawing at the exposed areas of her skin like a thousand hungry creatures,

heedless of everything but her need to escape the madwoman who had beaten her

two friends with such ridiculous ease. Never in her wildest nightmares had she

imagined that the girl that she had always believed a weakling due to her double

curses could prove so deadly and formidable. It was not even as if Pur Fum was

trying very hard to show them up, it was more like they were being toyed with by

a predator who was in no great hurry to finish the matter.

Yet while she scrambled in the futile hope of sanctuary Pur Fum was finding it

very easy to keep pace with Ta Bel. To her eyes the dim moonlight was as bright

as a Halogen lamp illuminating her path, and she moved with great ease slipping

through the veldt without hardly stirring a leaf or blade of grass in passage.

She could smell the fear mixed with the scent of her quarry, hear the pounding

of Ta Bel's heart and could have ended the chase at any moment. Instead she

waited until the moment of terror was greatest for her prey, then she cast one

of her axes in a toss that deliberately missed Ta Bel but caused her to stumble

and falter.

The sound of that ax was enough to make Ta Bel's heart lurch in her mouth as she

tried to orient towards its point of origin. Pur Fum took advantage of her

opponent's disorientation to close the distance between them without giving away

her position.

In a few quick leaping strides Pur Fum came hurtling out of the forest with both

arms extended, using her metal bracers to catch Ta Bel by surprise and knock her

sprawling. Pur Fum came up in a roll and stood erect in time to meet the return

arc of her broad ax, snatching it out of the air before assuming a fighting

crouch as she studied the terrified girl before her.

To her credit Ta Bel chose to make a last desperate stand, drawing her Butterfly

knives while facing off against the other girl, who was two years her junior.

She had the advantage of reach and maturity on her side, but Pur Fum proved

quick and clever when she attacked and drove Ta Bel back to the very edge of the

clearing. The fight between them was quick but never in doubt. Pur Fum was a

blur in Ta Bel's vision as she felt herself be disarmed by those deadly axes.

Pur Fum was not content to stop there, however, and proceeded to slice away Ta

Bel's clothing until she was denuded, then next she went to work chopping away

at the other girl's hair until Ta Bel was nearly bald, and only then did she

knock the girl to her knees and press one ax to her throat. A single slice and

it would all be over.

"P-Please!" Ta Bel gasped, finally losing all pretence of courage as the

prospect of dying became evident. It was the final humiliation for any warrior

to suffer, being reduced to begging for her life, but Ta Bel was well beyond any

hope of dignity now, not that she expected her plea to be heeded.

For a long time neither girl moved as Pur Fum remained where she was, holding

the ax up to the throat of the other girl, knowing how easy it would be to give

into her lust for vengeance. In her eyes Ta Bel and her friends deserved to

die, were already as good as dead, their lives being forfeit to Pur Fum the

instant that she made them. None of them had been in her class as a fighter,

her skills overmastered theirs by such a degree that they were barely even

worthy of her notice. The tribe would be better off without such scum, and she

doubted very much if the Elders would find fault with her actions. This was

what she had been trained for, and to claim their lives would only be simple

justice.

What stopped her in the end was not considerations of mercy or even pity, it was

contempt mixed with curiosity and the realization that she had broken Ta Bel as

a fighter. To sully her axes now would be a poor tribute to the memory of Lo

Xion, who might not have approved such bloodshed. Pur Fum might have bloodied

them anyway, but instead she asked one question, "Why? Why did you do it?"

Ta Bel gasped as she felt the press of the blade against her neck, so she said,

"We just wanted to have some fun...we never meant any harm! We didn't mean to

cause her to fall...it was an accident, it just happened!"

"Just...happened," Pur Fum repeated, but now the berserker madness was draining

away from her, leaving cool reason in its place, along with a hollow feeling

that could never be filled without Lo Xion. With great effort she forced

herself to move away from the cowering girl, then said with forced calm, "You

will return with me to the village and confess what you did to the Elders. You

will tell everyone what you did to Lo Xion, and why, and beg the forgiveness of

her family. They will decide your fate, not me, net unless you refuse to agree

this instant. Swear that you will do this and I will permit you to live...or

else..."

"I swear!" Ta Bel cried as one who was drowning might grasp for any means of

keeping afloat. The loss of face and prestige would be inconvenient, and the

pride of her family might suffer, but at least Ta Bel would still have a head to

hang in shame. She had no doubt in the slightest that she would lose her head

if she showed any hesitation to comply at this point. No way did she want to

spend one minute longer than she had to in the presence of this madwoman!

"Then move," Pur Fum said coldly, not even caring how the other girl shivered in

the night air as she staggered to her feet, then stumbled back along the trail

to rejoin the others, who would in turn be given the same option...

Lo Xion coughed then felt her temples as she groaned aloud, wondering why her

head ached so much, not to mention other parts of her body...

"Lie still," a voice said, "You may have a minor concussion."

Lo Xion opened her eyes as she recognized that voice, then slowly turned her

head to see the other girl bent over by the campfire cooking trout that had been

impaled on roasting sticks. The face of her companion was turned away at the

moment, but there was no mistaking the pink coloration of her hair, or the

Naginata that had somehow been retrieved and was laying within easy handsreach.

"Am Bur?" she gasped in confusion.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," the other girl said without turning

around, "You had me worried for a while there."

"What...happened?" Lo Xion asked, searching her recent memories in hopes of a

reference.

"Other than the fact that you were hit on the head, fell seventy-two meters into

a waterfall and were swept six kilometers downstream before I was able to reach

you?" Am Bur asked, then answered "Not much, other than the fact that we're now

in Musk-controlled territory, which is why I've banked the fire so low so as not

to attract the notice of one of their patrols."

"You saved me?" Lo Xion gasped.

"That pretty much seems to be it," Am Bur replied, "And you're welcome."

"Um...thanks," Lo Xion said, "Uh...please don't get me wrong, but...why did you

do it?"

Am Bur seemed to consider the point for a time before she said, "Seemed like a

good idea at the time, though I don't blame you for asking."

Lo Xion felt awkward at being indebted to the other girl. One the one hand she

knew that Am Bur must be in incredible pain from the wound she had received at

Xian Pu's hand and therefore could not harbor good intentions towards someone

whom Xian Pu favored, on the other hand she could recall Am Bur posing as a

friend and accompanying the both of them on several adventures, and during that

time she had never sensed ill intent in the pink haired warrior, which was

partly why her betrayal at the tournament had come as such a great shock.

Lo Xion could also remember vividly how hurt and angry Xian Pu was at the time,

and she had been firsthand witness to what her lover had done to Am Bur in

retaliation. There was a very good reason why Am Bur was keeping her face

averted at the moment and had combed her hair to cover her right portion.

Lo Xion took a moment to glance down at the parts of her body that she could see

that weren't presently covered by a blanket. She had bruises and bandages

enough to tell her about the narrow escape that she had just come through. If

it was not for Am Bur...

"You are also wondering why I challenged Xian Pu at the tournament," Am Bur

suddenly, "Which she took for betrayal, which is why she chose to scar me."

Lo Xion felt awkward but managed to reply, "No...Pur Fum warned us both that it

was your habit to get to know your opponents before challenging them. Xian Pu

did not believe you would do such a thing to her, and then your challenge

arrived and we realized that you would be facing her in tournament. It was

quite a surprise to us both, but I guess it should have been expected."

Am Bur gave a short, bitter snort that could have been the beginning of a laugh

and said, "I never led either of you on that I was not going to challenge her.

Why do you think I chose to spar with her in practice? I would have done the

same with Pur Fum, but your other friend denied me the privilege."

"Her great grandmother, the Matriarch, would have forbidden it too," Lo Xion

replied, "Pur Fum's training is a guarded secret that only Xian Pu and I have

been allowed to witness. Everyone thinks she is weak, but she is very, very

strong, much stronger than you could imagine."

"I suppose I'll have to take your word on it, then," Am Bur sniffed, "I won't be

returning to our homeland, not for quite a while. I'm done with this village,

it's time to move on and learn what the world has to teach me."

Lo Xion gazed at the one called Ambergris in curiosity before forming her next

question, "Just why were you at the Waterfall Bridge, Am Bur? You were

intending to do something with me, weren't you?"

"I will not deny it," Am Bur stared into the fire for a moment before

continuing, "I thought of the pain that losing you would cause Xian Pu and it

gave me ideas. Ever since I was little and had to endure my mother's brow

beatings whenever I failed to live up to her standards I have always sought to

learn the weaknesses of those I challenge so that I can exploit them to my own

advantage. I had some thoughts about kidnapping you to lure Xian Pu into a trap

so that I could have my vengeance."

"But instead you saved my life," Lo Xion said softly, "So what changed your

mind?"

"Those three I saw following you had almost the exact same idea," Am Bur sighed,

"It made me feel...petty...spiteful, almost like a willful child. I'm better

than that, or so I've always believed. It decided my course of action,

especially when I saw you falling towards your doom in the water."

"I'm grateful," Lo Xion replied, "It can't have been an easy decision with what

you've suffered."

Am Bur stiffened slightly, "What do you know about what I've suffered?"

"I know that we're the same deep down," Lo Xion replied, "We've both had to

endure the abuse of adults who have demanded too much from us, or more than we

are able to give. We know what it's like to be considered outsiders, not well

liked and barely tolerated by others..."

Am Bur moved with incredible speed to close the distance between them, and

suddenly she was poised above Lo Xion, glaring down at the smaller girl as she

exposed the right side of her face to full view and said, "What WE have

suffered? Look at me! I'll bear this scar for life! I'm hideous now, and all

because of your precious Xian Pu! Don't talk to me about being the same, we're

nothing alike! You're Xian Pu's precious darling while I'm a side show freak!

I might as well call myself Cain or wear a mask over my head! People will look

at me and point their fingers and say, 'Isn't it a pity? She could be so cute

if it wasn't for that one little deformity..."

Lo Xion stared at the wicked gash that was exposed to the dim light of the

campfire which had somehow just missed the eye beginning above the right eyebrow

and extending down the side of the cheek, held in place by stitches yet still so

fresh that its angry red glare still looked moist around the center. She could

not repress a slight shudder as she thought of the pain that the other girl was

enduring.

"You see?" Am Bur said more softly, "This is what I have to look forward to,

thanks to Xian Pu and her pride, so don't tell me that you know what suffering

means because mine has only just begun, and somehow or other I will be avenged

on Xian Pu for her having done this!"

Lo Xion considered what words she might use to appease the other girl's wrath

and could think of nothing, but now that she had the opportunity to study Am

Bur's wound more closely the clinical part of her mind that was the trained

Healer came into play. That cut would leave an angry scar, of course, unless...

Lo Xion freed both of her hands from the blanket then began to reach up towards

Am Bur, who recoiled slightly at the promised contact until the smaller girl

said, "Hold still...this isn't going to hurt you."

"W-What are you trying to do?" Am Bur asked, "I've already been to see a

Healer..."

"Not my Aunt Comb," Lo Xion said as her fingers lightly traced the scar, probing

around the stitches without making contact, "This looks more like Tal Kum's

doing. At least he had sense enough to use sutchers instead of silk thread,

that will make this much easier."

Lo Xion closed her eyes and thought of her aunt Comb, recalled their lessons

together when she had been studying the more advanced arts of the true adept

Healer. Silk had discovered that Lo Xion had a hidden talent that was well

suited to a Healer and had encouraged Comb to concentrate on that aspect of her

training. She imagined the ball of energy that she had been taught to create

between her hands, visualizing the bright sunlight gold coloration of the

healing energy of her Chi, drawn from her immediate surroundings as she opened

her mind and visualized each one of her Chakra centers opening in sequence.

The energy began to flow through her small body, drawn in through the pores of

her skin as she rechanneled it through the contact point of her hands. Am Bur

gasped slightly but then started to relax as the Chi energy touched her and

caused a pleasant warmth to fill her body. It only lasted for a few seconds,

and then it was gone. Lo Xion withdrew her hands and Am Bur felt along the

edges of her face, tracing the line that was no longer hurting.

"Now it won't be so obvious," Lo Xion sighed as she lay back in her blankets,

feeling the exhaustion that always came on her with the use of the power,

"You'll still have a faint scar, but it won't be all that visible in certain

lighting. Now you don't have any reason to go after Xian Pu...now you won't

need to claim vengeance," she yawned, unable to keep her eyelids from closing,

"Excuse me...I need to sleep now..."

Am Bur watched the blue haired girl succumb to her exhaustion, still touching

the right side of her face where it was no longer hurting. Of a sudden she

wanted to get a mirror to examine herself, but she had smashed the only one she

possessed on the day she took her vow to quit herself of their village.

Lo Xion had just done her a favor, she realized that without knowing exactly how

or why she had done it. Even the sutchers were gone, dissolved or absorbed into

the skin thanks to Lo Xion's healing magic. Overwhelmed at the kindness that

had just been done to her, Am Bur sat back and stared down at the peaceful,

reposed face of the young beauty whom she had rescued.

It was a very long time before Am Bur moved again, returning to the faint embers

of their fire so that she could coax it back to a small blaze and finish cooking

their dinner. She had to think what she was going to do now, assuming they

could avoid the Musk patrols and make it back into friendly territory. Going

back to Joketsuzoku was not even an option, and Lo Xion had her own destination

in one of the villages with whom the Amazons had a friendly alliance. It seemed

sensible that they stay together at least as far as Kappa Springs, and from

there...who could say? Maybe hang around a few days to be sure that Lo Xion was

truly feeling better.

An odd thought crossed Am Bur's mind as she recalled what she had been planning

to do to Lo Xion before changing her mind at the last minute. Those three

warriors had been crude enough to hint at what they intended, but none of them

had the imagination to carry it out the way Am Bur had contemplated. It

sickened her now to think that she would have so used someone as innocent as Lo

Xion in her personal quest for vengeance, but now that they were each indebted

to each other...

Am Bur smiled, this time favoring Lo Xion with a look very different from the

kind of bitter, twisted scowls she had been employing all evening. The girl was

certainly a charmer, and she had a way of making it seem perfectly natural that

one would want to be with her. She was clever and imaginative, and in many

respects would make a very fine traveling companion. Perhaps there were even

things they could each one another, having shared-as Am Bur now admitted-a

checkered past full of much sorrow and hardship at the hands of those they had

loved and trusted.

There was more than one way to take revenge on somebody, and Xian Pu might not

learn the truth for many years. In a way that would satisfy Am Bur's need for

vengeance, and without turning Lo Xion into a victim of cruel excesses.

Time enough to see if her new plan had any merit. For now her fish was starting

to smolder over the fire, so it was time to retrieve her supper while hoping Lo

Xion would recover shortly to share her own well-earned portion...

At that moment, many miles away in the village, Lo Xion the Elder's eyes flew

open as she came out of her meditational trance and said, "She lives! My Great

Granddaughter yet lives! I must see Kho Lon at once..."

Gathering herself up she left her house, limping on her staff as she sought out

Kho Lon, whom she found standing outside the main gates to Joketsuzoku as the

sun was rising, attended by a good portion of the villages population. Lo

Xion's excitement was such that she ignored the crowd and went straight to the

Matriarch to say, "Good news...I've just made contact with my great

granddaughter..."

"Hold that news for the moment," Kho Lon instructed the ancient Lore Master,

"See who has returned from a successful hunt, and with her quarry in tow no

less."

Lo Xion turned to see what had attracted so much notice and at once caught sight

of Pur Fum herding three near-naked Amazons with her axes, the lead of whom had

her hair cut so short that she was practically hairless. All three girls

shivered in the pre-dawn chill of early morning, yet being Amazons they were

trained to ignore minor physical discomforts and seemed more preoccupied with

keeping their distance from the one who stalked them.

Xian Pu was standing next to Kho Lon with rounded eyes as Pur Fum ordered her

prisoners to kneel down and accept the judgement of their Elders. Pur Fum

looked expectantly at Kho Lon as other members of the Council arrived to

investigate the matter. Kho Lon waited until a sufficient number were gathered

before asking aloud, "Why do you come here before us in this manner, Pur Fum?

What have these three done that you would present them to us for judgement?"

"Elder," Pur Fum's voice held the same flat tone that she had used before, "I

bring before you three warriors who have shamed themselves in the eyes of our

ancestors. They were the ones who caused Lo Xion to fall to her death near the

Waterfall Bridge. They have confessed their crime to me and will now do so

before all present. They await your judgement, as do I," and she made a

saluting motion with her axes before causing them to disappear into their

special place of holding.

Xian Pu looked stunned, and then her eyes blazed with anger as she turned to the

three who cowered before her and snarled, "Let me deal with them, Great

Grandmother! I will see to it that they are punished for their crimes!"

"Stay your hand, Xian Pu," Kho Lon ordered, "I would hear this from their own

lips. Do you three confess to the crime that you are charged with? Speak

truthfully, you are in the presence of Elders who will know if you are lying."

The three shivering girls all as one turned from the angry, crimson gaze of Xian

Pu to the more neutral expression of the Matriarch, then Har Spra cried out, "We

didn't mean to hurt her! We were only going to have a little fun..."

"It was Whale Puke who did it!" As Prin suddenly cried as if inspired by Terror,

"She was there and challenged us, and when the fight broke out Lo Xion was hurt

by accident..."

"Whale Puke?" Xian Pu grit out the words with an especially vicious tone, her

hands clenched as if gripping the handles of her Bonbori with the obvious intent

of smashing the three before her like insects.

"That's right," Ta Bel shivered, "Ambergris was there! She's more responsible

than us for what happened! You should blame her, not us!"

"Ambergris," Pur Fum said the word with distaste, "I would have guessed her

involvement. Elders, there is one who has not yet been brought to justice, I

will seek her out and bring her back to face judgement..."

"Not just yet," Kho Lon said, "First tell us why you chose to bring these three

back for judgement when you could have as easily taken their lives when you

found them?"

"I had considered it, Elder," Pur Fum replied, regarding the cowering trio with

open contempt, "But there would be little point and small satisfaction from

taking the lives of warriors who have dishonored themselves so badly."

"Why not?" Be Dea asked, "No one here would judge you at fault if you had chosen

to exercise your right as the victor."

"But it is not what she would have wanted," Pur Fum said softly, "Lo Xion was

the kindest, gentlest person I have ever known, worth ten such as these! She

wouldn't want her memory to be bloodshed, and to kill them in battle would

preserve their names and integrity as warriors."

"Yet you show mercy to those who caused her death," said Pao Dur.

"Perhaps the Elder might instruct me in what way I have done this," Pur Fum said

coldly, "Let them live with their shame, or whatever penalty you judge for their

actions. They now stand condemned in their own words, in the eyes of their

families, and if they are ever to reclaim warrior status again they will have to

demonstrate their worth in the eyes of our people. This would please Lo Xion

and serve the interests of the Nyanichiczu."

"Well spoken," Kho Lon said with approval, then she lifted her voice and called

out, "Hear me! It is my judgement that these three be stripped of rank and

forced to labor in the fields for three seasons until they have proven to their

Elders that they are warriors again. I also declare that Pur Fum is the new

Enforcer for our village. She has proven that she can carry out the will of the

Council, so let all beware of her wrath. Do any here dispute my judgement?"

No one did, so by the consent of all the Elders present Pur Fum was acknowledged

Enforcer while the mothers of the three Amazons she had defeated came to claim

their charges to a fate that was far less pleasant. Pur Fum did not allow

herself to show emotions, but she saw her own mother among those who were

enthusiastically hailing her name. She took what small comfort she could in

this, but her eyes sought out Xian Pu, who only looked sadly at her cousin, the

grief they each shared far outweighing any sense of vindication.

Lo Xion tried again to get her message through, but before she could speak Kho

Lon murmured a sharp, "Say nothing. We will talk in private."

Lo Xion closed her mouth and eyed the Matriarch with suspicion. Kho Lon was up

to something devious and even without the senses of a Lore Master Lo Xion could

tell that it was not something she would hear gladly...

"I wanted to tell you something, Makoto," Ukyo said nervously, "It's very

important that you listen, I know it will come as something of a shock, but I

never meant to lead you on or hurt you..."

Ukyo made an exasperated sound as she stared at the bathroom mirror. It was the

male bathrooms, of course, and no one was present to eavesdrop (she had double-

checked to make absolutely certain of that), so she had some assurance of

privacy as she tried to rehearse what she was going to say to her friend when

she next saw her.

"Makoto," she tried again, "I think you're a wonderful person, a great cook, and

you've got a wonderful sense of humor. You're smart, you're pretty, a very

loyal friend and you're even a good fighter, so I don't want you to think this

has any reflection on you-AAARRRGGGHHH!" she threw up her hands in despair,

"That sounds so lame! When I tell her the truth she's going to cry, if she

doesn't outright kill me..."

"Relationship problems?"

Ukyo froze, looking at the mirror, then past her shoulders, turning slowly

around as she tried to discern where those words had originated.

"Who said that?" she asked, a hand reaching up to the handle of her Bakers Peel.

A lot of very strange things were always happing at Crossroads, so hearing a

disembodied voice was not as strange as it might sound and the thought that it

might be one of those accursed Youma briefly crossed her mind as she considered

battle tactics for dealing with hostile extradimensional spirits.

The Peel was polished iron and she had learned first-hand that it could be

effective against hostile spirits, but when she saw movement coming from the

wastebasket near the sink she almost jumped out of her skin, then a human form

detached itself and turned to look at her with a friendly expression.

"Don't look at me like that," said the figure who brushed rolled up paper cloths

off his (or her?) person, "I'm human, not some Youma you need to bash around.

My name's Tsubasa, Kurenai Tsubasa, and I'm sorry if I eavesdropped on your

little rehearsal, but you kind of walked in on me while I was practicing one of

my disguises."

"Disguises?" Ukyo repeated, observing that the figure who presented itself

before her had long light brown hair and-at first glance-appeared effeminate

until Ukyo looked more closely and determined that he was male and not female.

"Sure," Tsubasa smiled, "That's my art, I'm a master of disguise. Don't be

ashamed that you never saw me coming, nobody ever does," he said with a slightly

smug expression.

"Oh," Ukyo decided to take the matter in stride, "I'm..."

"Kuonji Ukyo, I know," the effeminate boy said as he finished straightening out

his school uniform, "Everybody knows who you are. I've seen you around with

that Makoto you were talking about right now. She's the tall girl who hangs out

with Ami and Usagi in my homeroom."

"Um...forgive my asking," Ukyo said uncertainly, "But why were you...?"

"Hiding out in the garbage?" Tsubasa replied, "Beats disguising myself as one of

the urinals. I've noticed you several times come in here and avoid using the

stand up stalls, you always use a booth, and you never show yourself in front of

the guys..."

"I'm...a very private person," Ukyo hesitated, then added, "Not that it's any of

your business..."

"That you're really a girl and not a guy?" Tsubasa asked, then smiled when Ukyo

gave him an astonished look, "Hey, you think your disguise could fool me? I saw

right through you the first day, which is why I've kind of have been keeping

tabs on you on the sly. You're more interesting than other girls. I'll bet the

reason you hide your sex has got something to do with your parents, am I right?"

"How did you guess?" Ukyo said non-committally, wondering where she had slipped

up to let this Tsubasa character in on her great secret.

"Why do you think I'm so much into disguises?" Tsubasa studied himself in the

mirror, then pulled out an elastic band and started to fix his long hair up into

a ponytail, "Parents have a way of driving all of us to distraction. Sometimes

it pays to make yourself invisible, to fit right in with the background. It's

the only way to cope when stuff gets too much for us to deal with, take it from

an expert."

"Okay," Ukyo said slowly, wondering if she really wanted to know what all of

that meant. Tsubasa was a very small, slight boy, and it might have been to

escape from the harassment of larger students that he evolved his chameleon

talent.

"Tell me something, if you don't mind me asking," Tsubasa glanced at her

reflection in the mirror, "Are you planning on breaking up with Makoto?"

"Uh...no," Ukyo said, "More like I wanted to tell her the truth about me..."

"You're not gay, are you?" Tsubasa asked, startling Ukyo with the 'out of the

blue' question.

"What?" she reacted in surprise, completely taken off balance.

"Because if you are it's cool with me," Tsubasa hastily assured her, "I'm not

into judging other people for their particular likes or dislikes, I just

wondered if maybe you wanted to find out if Makoto was also into girls, and like

that might be why you want to tell her..."

"No!" Ukyo reacted, "I mean...that's not why I want to tell her! I just want to

be honest before things go any farther. I'm afraid she's going to accuse me of

deliberately deceiving her, so I thought it was time to get it off my chest..."

"If you're not Gay, then why did you date her?" Tsubasa calmly persisted.

"I..." Ukyo faltered, "I don't know...I let myself get talked into it by some

friends. I did it mostly so people wouldn't think I was strange or...gay...but

I never meant to give Makoto the idea that it was anything serious..."

"You know what I think?" Tsubasa asked, then continued without waiting for her

to answer, "You ought to try going to Haruka and asking her for advice..."

"HER?" Ukyo started, recalling the tall, cool, handsome looking boy with short

blond hair who had only just arrived on campus and already was stirring the

hearts of half the student body.

"Yeah," Tsubasa flashed another smile her way, "Like I said, I can see right

through disguises. Haruka's a girl, just like you, dressing up like a boy, only

in her case there's not question about which sex she goes for. You see the way

she's been making eyes at Michiru?"

"Ah..." Ukyo had indeed noticed the way the blonde boy-or make that girl-had

been coyly studying the transfer student named Michiru, who had foam green hair

and a major passion for music. She had even felt an unfamiliar tugging that

could have been construed as jealousy, thinking what a shame it would be that

she could not reveal herself to the handsome Haruka...

"Well, I just thought you ought to know," Tsubasa shrugged, "No sense stumbling

blind into these things and getting a major case of disappointment..."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Ukyo said with a queasy expression, "Um...look, I've gotta go

now. I'm meeting Makoto on the track field. Thanks for the advice and the

info, maybe see you around?"

"Odds are I'll see you before you see me," Tsubasa smiled as he watched Ukyo

slip back out into the halls, then once he was certain that he was alone the

effeminate boy smiled at his own reflection and said, "Perfect..."

"Matriarch..." Lo Xion began when she and her fellow Elder were alone and far

removed from the hearing of others.

"You were about to tell me the fate of your great granddaughter," Kho Lon said

softly, adopting a neutral expression.

"She lives," Lo Xion replied, "She was rescued by Am Bur, or so I was able to

glean from her thoughts when I was in meditation. They are in Musk territory

but will be seeking to return to friendlier soil as soon as she is well enough

to travel..."

"That is good news," Kho Lon replied, but her expression was thoughtful, "I

rejoice that we have not lost such a promising young healer, but I am concerned

of what effect this news may have upon my great granddaughters."

"I would think that they would be overjoyed by the news," Lo Xion said as she

studied the Elder before her before saying, "They were both so deeply affected

by the news of her possible death..."

"So I noticed," Kho Lon replied, "And what affect will this news have on them?"

"They will be relieved and overjoyed of course..."

"And they will seek her out to confirm for themselves that she is well," Kho Lon

said gravely, "And then it will become harder than ever to separate them. It is

possible we might even lose one or both of them to voluntary exile."

The Lore Master eyed the other ancient woman before saying, "You don't intend to

tell them the truth, do you? You would prefer to keep them ignorant..."

"At least for now," Kho Lon replied, "I would rather have them grieve her loss

then have them renew their bonds of affection. It would jeopardize everything

that I have been trying to accomplish and undo the achievement Pur Fum has

earned for herself by avenging the loss of one she so cared for. Unrequited

love has completed the task I began, and now Pur Fum is finally ready to take

her place in our society as she was always meant to."

"You've been meaning to turn her into a ruthless killing machine?" Lo Xion

asked.

"I've been seeking to make her into the Enforcement Arm for the will of the

Council," Kho Lon replied, "You saw how she performed out there...she was

magnificent! Cool, relentless, efficient like a great cat and precisely

controlled in the use of her power. Many doubted that I could turn one with her

deficits into such a warrior as she is, but now my will has been vindicated! So

too it must also be for Xian Pu, who is not yet ready to take her place as

Champion of our village. All her life I have been grooming her to become my

eventual successor, to earn a place upon the Council where her voice will be

heard and her wisdom will be heeded..."

"Matriarch, I protest!" Lo Xion emphasized the word to give it special meaning,

"You cannot simply shape these two into a reflection of your desires! It is

against our principles to deny young ones their own freedom of choice..."

"A sacrifice that is necessary to the greater good of our people," Kho Lon

replied, "I am not cruel to wish this for my great granddaughters. It is much

the same as when the boy Mu Tsu left us, an impediment that needs be removed if

they are to fulfill their role among the Nyanichiczu. One day they must have

husbands of their own, or Xian Pu at least must be given the right to pass on

our noble birthright..."

"This isn't about the Joketsuzoku," Lo Xion glared, "This is your own pride

leading you astray! You want what is good for your clan, not our tribe and

certainly not Xian Pu and Pur Fum..."

"That will be enough!" Kho Lon said harshly, then in more level tones, "You may

think what you will about me, but you will obey my directive. Tell no one what

you know regarding your great granddaughter and her continual survival. I will

take the responsibility for this on my own shoulders..."

"Like you did with your true Great Granddaughter?" Lo Xion said softly, "Or a

certain male I once loved but you forbade taking as my husband?"

"I said that will be all," Kho Lon said coldly, "Do not cross me on this, I warn

you. I would be well within my rights to ask that you be removed from the

Council for disobeying a direct order. Unless you are prepared to challenge me

for supremacy over our people..."

"You know that is forbidden to me," Lo Xion growled softly, "Lore Masters

advise, they do not assume power over others."

"Then there is nothing further to be said on the matter," Kho Lon said quietly,

then began to turn away.

"There is one thing," Lo Xion said darkly, "A prediction. By this action you

risk alienating yourself to both of your charges, and one-day you will have

cause to regret not heeding my warning. Think well on that, Matriarch, before

you condemn us all to your pride. By denying our heirs their right to mutual

happiness you set unforeseen things into motion, and some day you will be forced

to deal with the consequences."

"That may be as it will," Kho Lon replied without turning around, "But the

future is not certain. Do I have your assurances that you will maintain your

silence?"

Lo Xion bowed her head and replied, "As you say, it is not my place to go

against your decisions, but I would be failing the Joketsuzoku if I did not tell

you that what you seek is folly."

"Then there is no more to be said," Kho Lon replied, "The subject is closed as

of this moment. You may maintain communication with your great granddaughter,

but by no means are you to permit her return until after she has become a full

healer."

The Matriarch exited the clearing, leaving her Lore Master to sigh, feeling

more than slightly depressed as she added, "Perhaps I should turn this business

over to Silk to handle. She needs experience, but only a younger soul could

hope to keep up with Kho Lon and steer her away from her own folly..."

"Xian Pu?" Pur Fum asked as she hesitantly approached her adopted Cousin, whom

she found kneeling over the edge of their village, weeping tears where no one

else could see them.

"I can't believe that she is gone," Xian Pu said quietly, "It seems so

impossible, like a walking nightmare..."

"I know," Pur Fum sat down beside her friend and contemplated the ground with a

sad expression, "I can't quite convince myself of it either. She was so full of

life...and now...I never got to tell her..."

Xian Pu looked over at Pur Fum, then on impulse reached out a hand to touch her

shoulder. Pur Fum looked at her with tears forming in her own eyes, and by

mutual consent they began hugging one another, weeping softly without shame,

heedless of the world and its opinions.

"Pur Fum," Xian Pu whispered, "My good friend...please...let us never quarrel

again..."

"On my oath," Pur Fum said softly, "It will never happen."

And so it would be between them in the following years as the two matured

rapidly. Xian Pu would learn to smile and even laugh again, but Pur Fum would

always harbor great sadness. Years later when Pur Fum learned that a male had

defeated her friend then abandoned Xian Pu on the day after her wedding she

would be filled with rage and thoughts of betrayal. No one could be allowed to

harm a friend of hers, and Pur Fum would always defend those who were in need of

her strength. She was Enforcer of the Joketsuzoku, the right hand of the

Matriarch and avenger of the people. Her heart was closed to thoughts of her

own need...until the day she met one who would become her chosen soul mate...

"...And that's like it is, Dad," Ukyo concluded, "I'm gonna have a baby, and no,

Ranma isn't the father, Perfume is. Don't ask me to explain how, except that it

involves some weird kind of magic like what Nabiki goes through...yes, I'm sure

it's her. Who else did you think I've been sleeping with! Ranma? Don't worry

about Ranchan...he's being very supportive, and I'm gonna owe it to him big

time. You know I always collect on my debts, right? Then trust me...everything

will work out just fine, Dad, I promise."

Perfume listened in with her acute hearing, able to hear Kuonji Akira reply,

"You know you're going to drive your old man to an early grave if you keep it up

with these surprises, but...you've always know what you wanted, Ucchan, so...I

guess I can trust you...for now. Just be sure you do marry that Saotome boy,

even if this five way deal you've got does sound positively loopy."

"You're telling me?" Ukyo chuckled.

"So then," Akira said, "Any ideas what you're going to name the baby?"

"Dad!" Ukyo growled while Perfume just smiled, thinking to herself that some

things, like Parents and Elders, were a Universal.

Ukyo finally hung up the phone, then heaved a sigh of relief and said, "That

went better than I thought I would. Sometimes Dad worries me. I thought at

least he'd put up more of a fuss, even shouted a little."

"You'd rather he shouted at you?" Perfume asked with lifted eyebrows.

"Probably not," Ukyo chuckled, then turned to regard her Amazon bride before

murmuring softly, "I'm just glad he isn't protesting the baby. So...what are we

going to call it?"

Perfume shrugged as if to say, "How should I know?" but what she said aloud was,

"Whatever we call her, she will be ours, and that is what matters."

Ukyo cupped the other girl's chin and peered into her eyes before grinning

slightly, "Oh...I don't know...I can think of something else that matters, if

you're in the mood for it?"

Perfume raised eyebrows again, "Have you ever known me to refuse?"

"Nope," Ukyo took her wife's hand and urged her towards the nearest exit, "And

that's just one of many things I like about you, Per-chan, you've got the mating

instincts of a cat."

"And my bite is worse than my bark," Perfume grinned, purring slightly.

"Tease," Ukyo murmured, smiling even as she said it...

Continued.

Comments/Criticism/Continual relief for Tendonitis: shadowmane

If you wish to check out my other works, Please check out my Fanfiction

webpage at: ~ All related chapters

of this series can be found there along with my other works.


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